The Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus (2024):

• has been streamlined through a reduction in outcomes and content
• replaces the conceptual framework with artworld concepts – artist, artwork, world and audience
• replaces the frames with viewpoints, retaining subjective, structural and cultural, and replacing postmodern with contemporary
• retains practice as essential learning, focusing on the roles, intentions, choices and actions of artworld practitioners, adding art curators as a focus while retaining artists, art critics and art historians
• introduces the body of work as a requirement in Stage 5 art making as a way for students to establish their intentions as artists, and is developed and monitored as a demonstration of a student’s evolving practice, rather than an end-product
• updates course requirements to include a class time allocation of 70% art making and 30% art critical and historical studies in the mandatory course
• updates course requirements to include a class time allocation of 60% art making and 40% critical and historical studies in the elective course
• includes drawing as a mandatory art making form in Stage 4, and use of computer-based technologies is no longer required
• contains explicit content points and advice related to working with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Communities and Cultural material
• Life Skills outcomes have been mapped to the Stage 4 and 5 outcomes to facilitate integrated delivery.

The organisation of the outcomes and content for Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus (2024) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024.

Prior to implementing the Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus (2024), leaders will need to consider:

• The complexities for staff working across 2 syllabuses to teach Visual Arts 7–10 and the added complication of a staggered implementation structure (syllabus differences include structure, language, outcomes and content).
• The complexities of staff working with the photographic and digital media and visual design syllabuses, which are closely aligned to the previous visual arts syllabus and do not reflect the updated language in the new visual arts syllabus.
• The implications of multiple syllabus release dates across the subjects within creative arts and implementation structures staggered across multiple cohorts and subjects.
• Building teacher understanding about working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural content when designing and delivering visual arts learning activities and assessment.
• Developing school processes and systems for effective task design and valid assessment of reduced outcomes (6 in Stage 4 and 6 in Stage 5).
• Supporting teachers’ understanding of the principles of inclusive education, adjustments and access to the visual arts curriculum for all learners.
• Building teacher understanding of how subject-specific writing is defined in visual arts, and includes written, oral and multimodal forms.
• The resource and budget implications, including
  • providing time for staff to engage with syllabus expectations and build their skills and understanding to effectively teach and plan for syllabus requirements across 7–10 visual arts to implement in 2027
  • determining what resources are currently available to address new course requirements, including art making in 2D, 3D and/or 4D art forms
  • equipment that enhances learning and supports all students to access the curriculum, such as screen readers, audiovisual material and other inclusive learning tools such as digital software or other assistive tools for drawing, including eye gaze technology.
• All decisions about curriculum options for a student with disability should be made through the collaborative curriculum planning process.
• Prior to determining whether a student should access Life Skills outcomes and content, consider other ways of helping the student to engage with regular course outcomes.
  • This may include a range of adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities.
  • If the adjustments do not provide the student with sufficient access to some or all outcomes in Stages 4 and 5, a decision to access Life Skills outcomes and content in one or more courses might be appropriate .
• Some students with intellectual disability may find Years 7–10 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content are the most appropriate options to follow for their RoSA.

The Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus (2024) is based on evidence summarised in the bibliography published by NESA.  The evidence highlights: 

• the value of arts education in supporting students’ academic and social development
• established and contemporary theories in visual arts education that represent an updated body of discipline-specific knowledge
• the impact of an interrelated study of the function and relationships between artist, artwork, world and audience
• the value of alternative perspectives such as structural, subjective, cultural and contemporary to scaffold students’ knowledge of the artworld and their skills as artists
• the value of practice, including the study of a diverse range of artworld practitioners, and the role of the body of work in developing students’ own practice as art makers, historians and critics
• the value of opportunities to develop and involve all the senses through the development of visual and multimodal languages
• the relevance of emerging technologies, practices and theories in visual arts
• the role of curatorial practice in student art making.

Knowledge of the syllabus and professional learning needs

• To what extent do staff understand the syllabus and the evidence underpinning the new syllabus?
• How will the new syllabus affect classroom practice? What is in place to support and evaluate this practice?
• What school practices and systems are in place to support teacher professional learning?
• How are these evaluated to maximise support for teachers?

Collaborative planning and development

• Which communities of practice does the school collaborate with to enhance teacher curriculum knowledge and pedagogy?
• Do staff have the skills and understanding to collaboratively undertake syllabus implementation?
• What explicit systems are in place to foster collaboration?

Resourcing and support

• What structures are in place for tailored professional support for all staff to strengthen curriculum implementation?
• What else might be required for this syllabus? 
• What resources are required to commence syllabus implementation and meet planning, programming, assessing, and reporting requirements?

Ongoing evaluation and refinement

How is the new syllabus being used to lift teaching practice?

• Planning, programming and assessing creative arts 7–10
• NESA Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus (2024) © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024 (accessed 12/09/2023)
• NESA Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus Teaching and learning support
• NESA Introduction to the Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus video (3:01)