A new network of more than 200 expert teachers has been assembled by the Department of Education to support the curriculum reform now under way across the State.
Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell said the teachers would ensure the new NSW curriculum delivered on the goals of the reform, which included streamlining course content, building stronger foundations and providing more time for teaching.
“Streamlining and updating the curriculum is more than just removing content – the curriculum needs to be ‘teachable’ in the classroom to enable teachers to meet the needs of their students,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The work these expert teachers do over the next four years will directly embed teachers’ perspectives into the curriculum reforms,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said it had been 30 years since significant curriculum reforms had be made in NSW.
“Our education system is one of the largest in the world,” the Minister said.
“That means change is challenging, but it also means that change is exciting as we improve our education system for an evolving society and economy,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said one of the important messages from the curriculum review and community feedback was the need to give teachers the flexibility to meet the needs of every student.
“While we will be retaining a year and stage-based syllabus, by streamlining and decluttering we will give teachers far more flexibility to teach students at various stages,” she said.
