Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools
The syllabus mapping tools are designed to assist with mathematics planning, programming, assessment and reporting in Kindergarten to Year 2. They include the functionality to map syllabus elements, monitor student progress, record and annotate. These resources are quality-assured and aligned with the School Excellence Framework.
About these resources
Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools:
- are optional resources for schools to customise or edit for flexible use in different school contexts
- form part of the curriculum reform support package for primary teachers
- are standalone resources that complement scope and sequences and units for mathematics K-2
- support ongoing collection of student achievement and progress data aligned to state-wide syllabus standards
- enhance schools’ ability to identify and address gaps in student learning
- support teachers to monitor multiple syllabus elements when planning, programming, assessing and reporting
- support curriculum leaders with monitoring of syllabus coverage across year levels and stages leading to informed decision-making about student learning, progress and achievement.
Note
Like any resource, syllabus mapping tools must be reviewed for suitability prior to use. Teachers should exercise professional judgement when adapting or modifying the tools to reflect their whole-school approach to mathematics and meet their students’ learning needs.
Features
- Presented as a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel with multiple tabs for easy visualisation of syllabus information.
- Colour-coded tabs indicate syllabus content (green) and student progress (blue).
- Term-by-term mapping of syllabus focus areas, outcomes and content groups.
- Weekly tracking of syllabus content points separated into:
- number and algebra
- measurement and space
- statistics and probability
- Monitoring of individual student progress against syllabus outcomes.
- Where appropriate, Interview for Student Reasoning (IfSR) codes are incorporated (identified by a red triangle in the corner of the cell).
- Identify relevant links to the National Numeracy Learning Progression (codes are in bold text).
- Align with the Planning Literacy and Numeracy (PLAN2) v3 coding.
- Recording the actual sequence of learning undertaken by a class, year-level or stage group.
- Comment and annotation function to document where deviations from the school’s scope and sequence were necessary to meet student learning needs.
Supports identification of potential gaps in learning at class and individual student level.
How to use
Watch Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools (7:16) which unpacks all components of the mapping tools and how to use them.
[Description: screen shows the title, Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools, NSW Department of Education on a blue background with coloured circles.]
Narrator – Welcome to our Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools tutorial.
[Description: screen transitions to the planning, programming and assessing mathematics K-6 website. The screen shows the location of the Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tools resource.]
Narrator – These tools are designed to help teachers with curriculum planning and can be customised to fit your school's specific needs.
[Description: screen transitions to further down the website page, the mouse hovers over the scope and sequences and units for mathematics K-2.]
Narrator – They complement the scope and sequences and units for mathematics K-2 and help you track the teaching of syllabus content and monitor your students' progress and achievement.
[Description: transitions to the syllabus mapping tool Excel spreadsheet.]
Narrator – To use the tools, we recommend working with them digitally.
[Description: mouse cursor clicks on the ‘share’ button at the top right of the screen, opening the ‘send link’ dialogue box.]
Narrator – They can be uploaded to a shared digital platform, such as Microsoft SharePoint or Teams, to facilitate collaboration and enable multiple teachers to work on the same document at the same time. Alternatively, share the downloaded document by clicking on Share.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on the ‘share’ button at the top right of the screen, opening a ‘share’ dialogue box. The mouse hovers over ‘invite people’ and a ‘can edit’, then closes the window.]
Narrator – Type in the name of the person you wish to share the document with. Change the setting to Can Edit and pressing Share. To navigate, click the arrows in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen to scroll through the tabs.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks the left and right arrows at the bottom of the screen, scrolling through tabs.]
Narrator – When you see the tab you wish to work in, click once on that tab.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on the ‘student progress – N&A RWN tab.]
Narrator – On the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see vertical and horizontal scroll bars to scroll within the sheet you are currently viewing.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks the vertical scroll bar, taking us further down the Excel sheet, and then on the horizontal arrow, taking us left and right through the sheet.]
Narrator – Note that the top rows and first two columns remain visible as you scroll. Immediately below these scroll bars, you'll see the zoom function. Click on the plus symbol to zoom in or the minus symbol to zoom out.
[Description: the mouse cursor hovers over the plus and minus zoom bar.]
Narrator – To search for text within the tab you are viewing, double-click on Home in the menu bar at the top of your screen to display the Find function. Click Find.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks ‘home’ at the top left of the screen, then clicks on the ‘find’, represented by a magnifying glass at the right of the screen. A ‘find what’ box appears. After clicking ‘find’, the box shows relevant search results. The mouse closes the window.]
Narrator – Click once in the Find What box, type in the text you are looking for, then click Find All. Excel will outline the relevant cell. Alternatively, press Control and F to bring up the search window. Insert a comment or annotate within the tab.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on a cell in the sheet, selects ‘review’ from the ribbon, and selects the ‘new comment’ speech bubble. A yellow comment box appears next to the cell that is selected. A little red triangle indicates there is a comment attached to the cell.]
Narrator – Click in the relevant cell, click on Review, then, New Comment. Type your text, then click away from the cell. A red triangle in the corner indicates a comment, which you can view by hovering your mouse over the cell.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on a cell in the sheet, and then hovers over ‘edit comment’ and ‘delete comment’ in the top ribbon.]
Narrator – To edit or delete the comment, click in the cell then click Edit Comment or Delete Comment. Alternatively, right-click on a cell to insert or delete a comment.
[Description: after right-clicking on a cell, an options window appears. The mouse cursor selects, ‘insert comment’.
Narrator – If you wish to print a tab, select File, then Print.
[Description: the mouse cursor selects ‘file’ at the top toolbar, opening up a side toolbar with printing options. The mouse hovers over custom scaling options. The screen transitions back to the mapping tool sheet.]
Narrator – Here, you can select custom scaling to choose how you'd like your sheet to be printed. The first two green tabs in the syllabus mapping tools allow you to monitor syllabus content.
[Description: the mouse cursor hovers over the two green tabs at the bottom of the sheet, clicking on the ‘monitor content groups by term’ tab.]
Narrator – On the monitor content groups by term tab, you'll see the focus areas, outcomes, and content groups. Note that the working mathematically outcome is listed in every focus area. To indicate that a content group has been taught, click once in the corresponding cell.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on the ‘term 1’ cell and types the letter ‘y’ and the cell turns green.]
Narrator – Type the letter Y for yes, noting that it isn't case sensitive. Then on your keyboard, press Enter or Return. You'll see the cell is now shaded green. If you accidentally enter Y, click once in that cell, press Backspace or Delete on your keyboard, followed by Enter or Return.
[Description: the mouse cursor clicks on the same cell and deletes the entry, returning the cell to white. The mouse then selects the ‘monitor content points by week’ tab at the bottom-left of the screen. A number of cells are selected, and ‘y’ is entered. The ‘total column’ shows the number 6, being the sum of all the cells selected.]
Narrator – Follow the same process on the monitor content points by week tab to track when content points are taught each week. Note that as you populate this tab, The total column will indicate how many times the content point has been taught throughout the term.
[Description: the mouse cursor selects the ‘student progress – N&A RWN tab at the bottom of the screen, opening that sheet.]
Narrator – Subsequent tabs are coloured blue and allow you to monitor student progress against syllabus outcomes. Here, you'll see the focus areas and outcomes, the content groups, and the associated content points.
[Description: the mouse hovers over the cells mentioned, and a message box containing an ‘interview for student reasoning code’ appears when hovering over a cell with a red triangle.]
Narrator – Hovering your mouse over content groups with a red triangle in the corner will show a pop-up with the associated Interview for Student Reasoning code.
[Description: the mouse hovers over the content point cells.]
Narrator – Within the content points, you'll see the Associated National Numeracy Learning Progression code in bold text. In the Name column, click once in the first cell, type a student's name, then press Enter.
[Description: the mouse cursor selects a cell under ‘name’ and types in, “Tom Smith”
Narrator – Typing student names into the first Student progress tab will auto-populate names into every subsequent tab.
[Description: the mouse cursor selects the ‘student progress – N&A CSQ’ tab, opening up that sheet to reveal that the student name has auto-populated into the ‘names’ row.
Narrator – Scrolling to the bottom of the sheet will enable you to see the codes you'll use to indicate student achievement.
[Description: the cursor scrolls to the bottom of the sheet revealing ‘student achievement’ indicator cells, which are colour-coded: pink for not demonstrated; orange for partially demonstrated; olive green for demonstrated; dark green for consolidated, and grey for not assessed.]
Narrator – Note that these codes align to the planning literacy and numeracy version three codes.
[Description: the cursor scrolls to the top of the sheet.]
Narrator – To indicate student achievement for a content point, type in N for not demonstrated, P for partially demonstrated, D for demonstrated, C for consolidated, and A for not assessed. And press Enter.
[Description: after selecting cells, ‘N’ is typed, ‘P’ is typed, ‘D’ is typed, ‘C’ is typed, and ‘A’ is typed. The cells change to the corresponding colours.]
Narrator – The cells will turn the associated colour and a tally will update at the bottom of the table,
[Description: the cursor scrolls to the bottom of the table, showing 1 for not demonstrated, demonstrated; 2 for partially demonstrated; 3 for demonstrated; 1 for consolidated, 1 for not assessed.]
Narrator – …giving you a class snapshot of student achievement for each content point.
[Description: the cursor selects the ‘student progress – M&S GM tab, opening that sheet, and scrolls to the right of the sheet by using the scrollbar at the bottom right of the screen.]
Narrator – Scrolling all the way to the right will give you a tally of achievement for each student, which may be useful for assessing and reporting.
[Description: the cursor selects a new page from the bottom of the screen, opening the K-2 multiage tool.]
Narrator – The K-2 multiage tool is organised by focus area and differentiated by colour. Here, we see representing whole numbers for early Stage 1 in white, followed by representing whole numbers for Stage 1 in blue.
[Description: the cursor hovers over the cells to show that they are shaded by colours. The cursor selects the ‘student progress – N&A RWN’ tab, bringing up that sheet. The cursor uses the scroll bar at the bottom right of the screen to scroll horizontally through the sheet.]
Narrator – In the Student progress tabs, the Early Stage 1 outcomes are followed by the Stage 1 outcomes as you scroll to the right. You should use your professional judgement when adapting or modifying these tools to fit your school context and meet your students' learning needs.
[Description: the screen transitions to a closing slide, showing an image of two females sitting at a table with documents. The text reads, please join the Primary Curriculum statewide staffroom, education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/statewide-staffrooms.]
Narrator – For further support or to collaborate with others, join the Primary Curriculum statewide staffroom in Microsoft Teams.
[Description: the screen transitions to an animation of light-blue circles with the NSW Government logo with a red waratah fading on screen.]
[End of transcript]
Getting started
Rather than printing, teachers and schools are encouraged to work with these tools digitally. They have been specifically designed to:
- be fully searchable (select Ctrl + F to search for specific outcome codes, focus areas or syllabus content)
- be easier to read (zoom, adjust contrast, brighten)
- allow for collaboration between school staff (multiple teachers and support staff can work on the same document at the same time)
- upload to shared digital platforms such as Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
Using (green) ‘syllabus content’ tabs
To indicate when content groups or content points are taught:
- place the cursor in the corresponding cell
- type ‘Y’
- press 'Enter' to shade the cell green.
Using (blue) ‘student progress’ tabs
- Type student names into the ‘Student progress Number and algebra Representing whole numbers’ sheet. Student names will be auto-populated into every subsequent sheet.
- Hover over content groups to display the Interview for Student Reasoning (IfSR) code in a pop-up box.
- Track student achievement by placing the cursor in the corresponding cell, and typing the letter:
- n (not demonstrated)
- p (partially demonstrated)
- d (demonstrated)
- c (consolidated)
- a (not assessed).
- Press ‘Enter’ to colour the cell. The table at the bottom of the tab will update the tally giving you a class snapshot of achievement for that content point. The table to the right of the tab will also update, giving you information on individual student achievement.
Quality assurance
Syllabus mapping tools have undergone a rigorous quality assurance process as part of our commitment to improving school support under the School Success Model. The process ensures that all resources provided to schools are relevant, of high quality, and underpinned by evidence-based practice.
Alignment to School Excellence Framework
These resources support the School Excellence Framework by incorporating the following domains and themes.
Learning domain
Learning culture: Transitions and continuity of learning
Wellbeing: Individual learning needs
Curriculum: Curriculum provision, Teaching and learning programs, Differentiation
Assessment: Formative assessment, Summative assessment, Whole school monitoring of student learning
Reporting: Whole school reporting, Parent engagement
Student performance measures: Student growth, Internal and external measures against syllabus standards
Teaching domain
Data skills and use: Data literacy, Data analysis, Data use in teaching, Data use in planning.
Leading domain
Educational leadership: Instructional leadership
Alignment to system priorities and, or needs
These resources reflect the following existing frameworks:
- Mathematics K-10 Syllabus (2022)
- National Numeracy Learning Progressions (Version 3)
- Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
- 2.2 – Content selection and organisation
- 2.3 – Curriculum, assessment and reporting
- 3.2 – Plan, structure and sequence learning programs
- 3.6 – Evaluate and improve teaching programs
- 5.1 – Assess student learning
- 5.2 – Provide feedback to students on their learning
- 5.4 – Interpret student data
- 5.5 – Report on student achievement
- 7.2 – Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
- K-6 curriculum requirements
- Curriculum planning and programming assessing and reporting to parents K-12
- Registration process for monitoring the government schooling system
- School Success Model
Consultation
Resources have been refined based on findings from consultation with key stakeholder groups and tested by NSW teachers as part of the ‘Early adopter project' in 2022. Subject matter experts from Curriculum Early Years and Primary Learners team endorsed documents to ensure accuracy of content.
Evidence base
The evidence base for these resources is:
Contact
Email questions, comments and feedback about these resources to mathematicsk6@det.nsw.edu.au using the subject line ‘Mathematics K-2 syllabus mapping tool’.