Information for parents and carers

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Helpful links

Schooling guide for parents and carers

Whether your child is beginning school or transitioning into high school, navigating the NSW school system needn’t be a daunting experience. Read about what’s involved with your child attending school, as well as NESA's roles and responsibilities.

Starting school

Starting school can be a big transition for children. Find resources to help, whether your child is starting or returning to preschool, primary or high school.

Public school terms and dates

Dates throughout the year for NSW public school terms, holidays and school development days. For private school term dates, contact your school.

NSW curriculum and syllabuses

NESA provides the curriculum for Kindergarten to Year 12. Take a look at the syllabuses for each subject, and view resources on the NSW digital curriculum website.

NAPLAN key dates

The NAPLAN test assesses the literacy and numeracy skills of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Read about test window and preparation dates and contact details for NAPLAN enquiries.

Supporting students with disability

All students are entitled to progress through the NSW curriculum. Read about adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities for some students with disability.

Homeschooling

To be home schooled, a child of compulsory schooling age must be registered by NESA. Find out about more about requirements and process for home schooling registration.

Higher School Certificate

School students in NSW generally work towards the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in Year 11 and Year 12. Find out about the HSC, subjects, dates and timetables.

About the HSC

The HSC is the highest level of attainment students can reach at school. Find out about courses, eligibility and achievement pathways, including the HSC minimum standard.

HSC subject selection

Explore the content for each HSC course. Find out more about how to choose your HSC subjects, course outcomes and how each subject is assessed.

Key dates and exam timetable

Find the dates and timetables for HSC written exams, languages oral exams, and important dates for practical and performance exams.

How NESA consults with parents and carers

Parents and carers are regularly involved in consultations with NESA. This is done by meeting with parent and carer groups across government, non-government and independent schools.

These consultations are an opportunity for parents and carers to express ideas and raise concerns relating to students' education.

You can voice your opinion or issue with NESA by joining your:

individual school's parent and citizen committee
school sector parent and carer group (large groups that represent parents and carers in a specific school environment).

The following are groups that NESA consults with across different school sectors and environments.

Government schools

Catholic schools

Independent schools

Rural and remote schools

Isolated Children’s Parents Association NSW

Complaints handling

If you have a complaint, compliment or suggestion about a school you'll need to contact:

the NSW Department of Education for feedback about public schools, early childhood or after- hours childcare services, or
the school directly for non-government schools. If this isn't appropriate, follow the raising concerns information and process to make the complaint to NESA.

Find out how to make a complaint about NESA's services.

Schooling in NSW

The NSW Department of Education provides teaching at over 2,200 schools across the state. Find out more about the diverse range of schools available to students in NSW on the Department of Education.

Visit the Department of Education