Sample home schooling plans and resources
Sample home schooling plans and resources provided by NESA and by other home schooling parents can help guide you to design your educational program. Read some sample home schooling plans and patterns of study.
Sample home schooling plans
The samples below are excerpts from materials developed by home schooling parents. They show a variety of ways that educational plans and records can be presented.
Additional resources are described in section 15 of the Home Schooling Guidelines.
The samples do not mandate any particular approach. They are intended to support parents by showing a range of approaches used by other parents for planning and record keeping. The sample excerpts do not form a complete educational program for a child.
You may use the samples to prepare educational plans to meet your child’s individual learning needs. In particular, the samples may provide a useful starting point if you are new to home schooling.
In all cases, the parents providing the samples have certified that the sample is originally created. NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has removed any identifying features from the samples. The samples may refer to commercial resources. NESA does not endorse any particular resources for home schooling.
The samples do not currently reference the newly released NESA syllabuses. More support materials using the new syllabuses are being developed. Samples will be refreshed from time to time.
The Guidelines for Home Schooling Registration in NSW describe the requirements and process for home schooling registration.
Sample plans
- Sample plan for Stage 4 – Home school schedule (PDF 205.63KB)
- Sample plan for Primary and Secondary Years (PDF 2.28MB)
- Sample plan for Stage 2 – Mathematics (PDF 163.41KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 2 – Creative Arts (PDF 210.37KB)
- Sample reporting of progress for Stage 2 (PDF 155.51KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 1 – English (PDF 212.49KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 1 – PDHPE (PDF 130.92KB)
Sample home schooling patterns of study
A pattern of study is the selection of courses studied over Years 11 and 12. The pattern includes the:
- number of courses to be studied
- sequence in which the courses will be taught
- number of units for each course.
Most courses have a 2-unit value. A unit is a measure of time with;
- 1 unit based on 60 hours of study in a year
- 2 units based on 120 hours of study in a year.
The syllabus identifies the unit value for the course.
A Year 11 educational program must include a minimum of 12 units (including 2 units of English). As most Year 11 courses are 2-unit courses, a Year 11 student typically studies a 2-unit English course and 5 other 2-unit courses.
A Year 12 educational program should include a minimum of 10 units (including two units of English). As most Year 12 courses are 2-unit courses, a Year 12 student typically studies 2 units of a Board Developed course in English and 4 other 2 unit courses.
In both Year 11 and 12, the pattern of study must include:
- 2-units of a Board Developed course in English
- at least 4 more units of Board Developed courses
- at least 3 courses of 2 or more units, and
- at least 4 subjects.
Additional information about Years 11 and 12 is available in section 10 of the Home Schooling Guidelines.
Sample patterns of study
Year 11
- English Standard (2 units)
- Mathematics Standard (2 units)
- Ancient History (2 units)
- Engineering Studies (2 units)
- Geography (2 units)
- Community and Family Studies (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 12 units.
Year 12
- English Standard (2 units)
- Ancient History (2 units)
- Engineering Studies (2 units)
- Geography (2 units)
- Community and Family Studies (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (Mathematics Standard not continued).
Year 11
- English Advanced (2 units)
- Economics (2 units)
- Modern History (2 units)
- Aboriginal Studies (2 units)
- Community and Family Studies (2 units)
- French Beginners (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 12 units
Year 12
- English Advanced (2 units)
- Economics (2 units)
- Modern History (2 units)
- Aboriginal Studies (2 units)
- Community and Family Studies (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (French Beginners not continued).
Year 11
- English Advanced (2 units)
- English Extension 1 (1 unit)
- Aboriginal Studies (2 units)
- Society and Culture (2 units)
- Enterprise Computing (2 units)
- Entertainment Industry Curriculum Framework - studied through an RTO (2 units)
- Arabic Beginners (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 13 units.
Year 12
- English Advanced (2 units)
- Aboriginal Studies (2 units)
- Society and Culture (2 units)
- Enterprise Computing (2 units)
- Arabic Beginners (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (English Extension and Entertainment Industry not continued).
Year 11
- English Standard (2 units)
- Textiles and Design (2 units)
- Aquaculture - studied through local TAFE (2 units)
- Software Engineering (2 units)
- Earth and Environmental Science (2 units)
- Modern History (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 12 units.
Year 12
- English Standard (2 units)
- Textiles and Design (2 units)
- Aquaculture - studied through local TAFE (2 units)
- Earth and Environmental Science (2 units)
- Modern History (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (Software Engineering not continued).
Year 11
- English Advanced (2 units)
- Business Services Industry Curriculum Framework - studied through local TAFE (2 units)
- Geography (2 units)
- Health and Movement Science (2 units)
- Biology (2 units)
- Music 1 (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 12 units
Year 12
- English Advanced (2 units)
- Business Services Industry Curriculum Framework - studied through local TAFE (2 units)
- Aboriginal Studies (2 units)
- Health and Movement Science (2 units)
- Music 1 (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (Biology not continued)
Year 11
- English Life Skills (2 units)
- Textiles and Design (2 units)
- Beauty Services - Board Endorsed VET course studied through an RTO (2 units)
- Computing Technology Life Skills (2 units)
- Biology (2 units)
- Modern History Life Skills (2 units)
Total units for Year 11 = 12 units
Year 12
- English Life Skills (2 units)
- Textiles and Design (2 units)
- Beauty Services - Board Endorsed VET course studied through an RTO (2 units)
- Biology (2 units)
- Modern History Life Skills (2 units)
Total units for Year 12 = 10 units (Computing Technology Life Skills not continued)