NSW Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, has launched a new guide to make it easier for parents to follow their children’s education and progress through their primary school years.

“The Parents’ Guide to the NSW Primary Syllabuses will be sent to schools across the State to help parents better understand their child’s progress from Kindergarten to Year 6,” the Minister said.

“Parents play a vital role in their children’s education. We know the more interested and engaged parents become in their child’s learning the more likely the child is to succeed at school – and this guide will help parents get more involved.

“The guide will also help parents discuss educational issues with their child’s teacher and make them better informed about their child’s learning progress.

“At a glance, parents will be able to see the amount of time their children are spending on each of the key learning areas and be informed about the specific topics and skills they are learning at each stage,” Mr Della Bosca said.

The NSW curriculum in Kindergarten to Year 6 is based on six key learning areas:

• English (25-35% of the school week)
• Mathematics (20%)
• Science and Technology (6-10%)
• Human Society and Its Environment (6-10%)
• Creative Arts (6-10%), and
• Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (6-10%).

Mr Della Bosca said students in NSW primary schools were taught the fundamentals of Science, Maths, History, Geography and English.

“They are expected to learn to spell and to do their times tables. They also learn about Australian history and how to express themselves in music and drama,” the Minister said.

“The NSW primary curriculum provides students with world-class standards in the development of numeracy and literacy skills.

“The 16-page guide, which features illustrations of original student work, was developed by the Board of Studies in consultation with teachers, parents and principals.

“It will be distributed by schools to all NSW families with children starting kindergarten. An online version can be found at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au and is available in a variety of community languages including Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese,” he added.