When and how to use

The resources are for use when delivering the Ancient History 11–12 Syllabus (2024) to Year 11 as part of a structured teaching and learning program. They should be adapted to best suit your students' diverse needs and school context.

The NSW Department of Education publishes a range of curriculum support materials, including samples of lesson sequences, scope and sequences, assessment tasks, examinations, student and teacher resource booklets, and curriculum planning and curriculum evaluation templates. The samples are not exhaustive and do not represent the only way to complete or engage in each of these processes. Curriculum design and implementation is a dynamic and contextually-specific process. While mandatory components of syllabus implementation must be met by all schools, it is important the approach taken by teachers is reflective of their needs, and faculty or school processes.

Support and alignment

All curriculum resources are prepared through a rigorous process. Resources are periodically reviewed as part of our ongoing evaluation plan to ensure currency, relevance and effectiveness. For additional support or advice, or to provide feedback, contact the HSIE curriculum team by emailing hsie@det.nsw.edu.au.

Differentiation

Further advice to support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students, EAL/D students, high potential and gifted students and students with a disability and/or additional needs can be found on Planning, programming and assessing 7–12. Differentiating learning and Inclusive Practice hub – Secondary school provide additional resources and support.

Assessment

Further advice to support formative assessment is available on the Planning, programming and assessing 7–12 and Teaching and learning – Assessment webpages and NESA’s Assessment and Reporting webpage.

Explicit teaching

Further advice to support explicit teaching is available on the Explicit teaching webpage. This includes the CESE Explicit teaching – Driving learning and engagement webpage.

Related resources

Further resources to support Ancient History 11–12 (2024) Syllabus can be found on Planning, programming and assessing ancient history 11–12.

Professional learning

Relevant professional learning is available on the HSIE statewide staffroom and MyPL, including Curriculum planning for every student in every classroom.

Consultation and alignment

Consulted with: Curriculum Implementation and Provision (Effective Teaching Practice, Aboriginal Education Team), Inclusion and Wellbeing, Literacy and Numeracy and subject matter experts.

Alignment to system priorities and/or needs: School Excellence Policy, Our Plan for NSW Public Education. The resource aligns to ‘Deliver outstanding leadership, teaching and learning’ in the Plan for Public Education. It specifically addresses:

• Deliver effective teaching practices including explicit teaching and effective feedback underpinned by high expectations
• Provide high-quality, evidence-based curriculum resources

Alignment to the School Excellence Framework: this resource supports the School Excellence Framework elements of curriculum (curriculum provision) and effective classroom practice (lesson planning, explicit teaching). This resource will support teachers to develop, adapt and implement dynamic and inclusive programs that are contextualised to their learners. The assessment task included in the package will support teachers in contextualising evidence-based assessment strategies to gather data on student achievement.

Alignment to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: this resource supports teachers to address Australian Professional Standards for Teachers .4.2, 2.5.2, 3.1.2, 3.2.2, 3.3.2.

Evidence base

This evidence base has current educational research that has informed the development of this resource.

AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited) (n.d.) Learning intentions and success criteria [PDF 251 KB], AITSL, accessed 28 April 2025.

AITSL (2017) ‘Feedback Factsheet’, AITSL, accessed 28 April 2025.

Brookhart S (2011) How to Assess Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, Hawker Brownlow Education, Victoria.

CESE (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation) (2020) What works best: 2020 update, NSW Department of Education, accessed 28 April 2025.

CESE (2020) What works best in practice, NSW Department of Education, accessed 28 April 2025.

NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) (2022) ‘Advice on units’, Programming, NESA website, accessed 28 April 2025.

NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) (2022) ‘Programming’, Understanding the curriculum, NESA website, accessed 28 April 2025.

Rosenshine B (2012) ‘Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know’, American Educator, 36(1):12–19 accessed 28 April 2025.

Sherrington T (2019) Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, John Catt Educational Limited, Melton, Woodbridge.

Wiliam D (2013) ‘Assessment: The bridge between teaching and learning’, Voices from the Middle, 21(2):15–20, accessed 28 April 2025.

Wiliam D (2017) Embedded Formative Assessment, 2nd edn, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, IN.

Wisniewski B, Zierer K and Hattie J (2020) ‘The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research’, Frontiers In Psychology, 10:3087, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03087, accessed 28 April 2025.