Teachers back at school to roll out curriculum

Public school teachers are back in the classroom to roll out world-class curriculum improving student learning. Linda Doherty reports.

Five teachers, two women and three men standing in an outdoor setting and smiling at the camera Five teachers, two women and three men standing in an outdoor setting and smiling at the camera
Image: Principal power: Michael Frith (Blackett Public School) left, Tom Moth (DEL, Mount Druitt), Carley Bugeja (Willmot Public School), Tracey Lee (Shalvey Public School) and Nathan Smith (Emerton Public School).

More than 95,000 NSW public school teachers started their school development days on Friday 31 January ahead of the return tomorrow of more than 780,000 students.

The teachers and school executives are helping deliver the most significant overhaul of the NSW curriculum in 30 years with proven teaching methods to lift student learning outcomes.

The NSW Government delivered syllabuses across primary and secondary schools in 2024, marking the completion of the mandatory Kindergarten to Year 12 curriculum.

To date, 54 syllabuses have been released to schools, with 16 now being taught as teachers prepare to deliver another 38 syllabuses by 2026. All mandatory syllabuses were released to teachers by the end of 2024 and remaining elective syllabuses will be released to schools by 2027.

Teachers are using the school development days to develop new lesson plans, implement explicit teaching into lesson delivery and deep dive into data to improve students’ learning outcomes.

Public Schools Deputy Secretary Deb Summerhayes spoke at the Hunter Principals’ Network school development days attended by 450 teachers and school learning support officers.

She told ABC Radio Newcastle that syllabus implementation was “our bread and butter as teachers”.

“We’re looking at syllabus, looking at how we’re teaching it and specifically explicit teaching, which is a big focus in NSW public schools. It’s a model of teaching that we know works for all children, whether they require adjustment or extension,” she said. 

"And once we know the child or young person has mastery, they're ready to move on to those really creative and inquisitive pieces that add to their learning."

Collaboration between schools

The school development days have seen unprecedented collaboration between group of schools.

Tom Moth, Director, Educational Leadership, Mount Druitt Network, said the opportunity for Blackett, Emerton, Shalvey and Willmot public schools to collaborate during the school development days would ultimately benefit students.

“After completing the ‘engage’ stage of curriculum reform for the new English and Mathematics syllabuses independently, the four schools came together during the ‘enact’ phase to deepen content knowledge and refine their teaching through collaborative professionalism. As the schools now embed these syllabuses, structured sharing of practice is proving transformative,” he said.

“The collaboration has centred on explicit teaching strategies, particularly connecting learning, the gradual release of responsibility, and sharing success criteria.

“Curriculum reform offers a chance to rethink not only what we teach but how we teach it. Advances in cognitive science provide deeper insights into how learning occurs, benefiting both teachers and support staff.”

Enhancing learning practices

Eight small schools in the Great Lakes came together come this week to continue their work on collaborative learning practices based on the work of Dr Lynn Sharratt.

Coolongolook Public School principal Jason Tindall said the staff focus was on the development of data walls and learning walks to embed an individual student case management approach to learning growth.

The Small Schools Alliance in southern Sydney joined forces on 31 January for a school development day to engage with the new Science and Human Society and its Environment syllabuses. The schools – Como, Jannali, Heathcote East, Taren Point, Waterfall and Woronora public schools – collaborate extensively during the year to share resources and access department experts.

Como Public School principal Nicole Gilmore said the alliance allowed the small schools to work collectively on the development of stage-based programming for all key learning areas in the new curriculum.

“The alliance gives us opportunities for staff to observe best practice in our schools and provide feedback to teachers working on the same stage from each of our schools,” she said.

“Principals and assistant principals share their collective wisdom and provide executive support for one another through professional learning and day- to-day interactions. Expert teachers share their knowledge and experience on planning for the new curriculum with other teachers on the same stage or grade.”

Improving writing skills

In the Illawarra, 160 teachers met on Monday for professional learning focused on evidence-based literacy practices to enhance teachers’ knowledge of writing instruction and the processes involved in explicitly teaching writing skills.

The schools – seven primary and one secondary school – are part of the Illawarra Science of Learning and Reading (SoLaR) Battalion, a learning community dedicated to literacy excellence from 2024 to 2026. Strategies include Direct Instruction and morning routines, which establish foundational skills for deeper learning.

This year, the Battalion’s focus moves to writing instruction, equipping teachers with effective strategies to enhance student writing skills.

The SoLaR Battalion schools are Albion Park, Bellambi, Kemblawarra, Warilla, Warilla North, Port Kembla and Windang public schools and Warrawong High School.

Windang Public School principal Loreta Kocovska said the collaboration was going from strength to strength, with more joint professional learning days planned this year.

“The school development days are allowing teachers to engage in high quality learning that is directly enhancing students’ knowledge and skills,” she said.

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