The revamped curriculum places greater focus on essential knowledge and provides more clarity for teachers on what all students need to learn, with more detailed and specific content.
With all NSW primary school syllabuses developed at the same time for the first time in 50 years, the new curriculum also improves connections across different subject areas so children can better apply their new knowledge and skills.
Today, syllabuses for Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE), Creative Arts, Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) and Science and Technology are being released to teachers, with updated Maths and English syllabuses already in classrooms from this year.
The new integrated approach to teaching and learning will ensure students learn new concepts, information and skills in the right order and have more opportunities to apply it. For example, when a student begins learning about graphs in mathematics, they will then start using graphs in geography and science.
These changes have been widely supported by teachers, parents and school sectors, and reflect feedback from submissions made through two rounds of public consultation.
Under the former government teachers were only given one year to plan and prepare for these new syllabuses.
Following feedback from teachers and advisory groups that the curriculum reform schedule was unworkable, the Minns Labor Government revised the Curriculum Reform timeline, and teachers will now have two years to familiarise themselves with the updated syllabus before it becomes mandatory in all NSW schools on day one, term one 2027.
Schools may choose to implement the revised curriculum ahead of this deadline.
Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE)
The new syllabus introduces Human Society and its Environment (HSIE). HSIE will replace the separate subjects of History and Geography, to create a subject which explores the key themes of both History and Geography at a local, national, and global level, in an interconnected way.
The new HSIE syllabus will also include:
- Compulsory Civics and Citizenship content, including lessons on democratic roles and responsibilities, including and the role and history of voting in a democracy.
- A strengthened focus on ensuring children have the skills to use tools for geography, such as maps and globes.
- Australian history, including Aboriginal cultures and history as well as the arrival of the First Fleet and the events and people that led to Federation.
- Topics that provide a window to the wider world, including ancient global civilisations.
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
The NSW Government is continuing work to support active lifestyles for young people across NSW, and encourage them to play outside, not on their phones.
The new PDHPE syllabus will support this focus, with for the inclusion for the first time of content addressing the healthy use of digital devices. and the importance of balancing screen time with outdoor physical activity.
The updated curriculum will also make the teaching of fundamental movement skills explicit. This aligns with the latest research on the importance of developing essential movement skills in childhood to create a foundation for activity into adulthood.
Further, for the first time the syllabus includes content to support students with physical disabilities to develop movement skills. Previously there was no explicit support for students with a physical disability.
The new PDHPE syllabus also includes age-appropriate lessons on respectful relationships and consent. For example, students will learn how and when to seek, give or deny consent in age-appropriate scenarios such as sharing toys or joining a game, and accepting how others respond.
Educating children on these issues from a young age is vital, but it is also paramount this work is done in an age-appropriate way that can be built upon in later years, which is what this new curriculum ensures.
Creative Arts
This will be the first update to the Primary Creative Arts syllabus in 24 years. Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts all fall under the umbrella of Creative Arts, with the updated syllabus to ensure students have an equal opportunity to develop their skills in each creative area.
Previously, there were no clear guidelines for how much time should be spent on each creative area, which meant for example, some students received ample opportunity to learn about visual arts, but minimal time exploring drama.
Science and Technology
Under the new Science and Technology syllabus, for the first time, students will develop an understanding of the human body, including, the skeletal, respiratory and circulatory systems.
The updated syllabus will also provide students with increased hands-on learning experiences including outdoor learning about animals, habitats and ecosystems.
Students will also learn about the earth and solar systems, climate, energy, food chains and electricity under the updated curriculum.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:
“This is a significant milestone in NSW Curriculum Reform that will reshape education in NSW for decades to come.
“For the first time, primary school teachers have a set of syllabuses that make sense together and will ensure students have a strong foundation upon which to build their knowledge.
“Teachers will have clarity on exactly what they need to teach, based on evidence – taking away the guesswork and streamlining workload.
“I thank the teachers of NSW who were part of the syllabus writing process and who contributed their thoughts and expertise to consultation.
“The result is a NSW Primary School Curriculum that is evidence-based, supports teachers and will set students up for success.”
NSW Education Standards Authority CEO Paul Martin said:
“These are rigorous, world-class syllabuses that teachers will find exciting.
“They are sequenced, coherent, knowledge-rich, and infer a more explicit teaching practice.
“NSW teachers work with syllabuses every day, they deserve to be given the respect of clarity. I am pleased to be handing over syllabuses that do that.”
