The start of Term 2 seemed an opportune time to provide an update on some of the Board of Studies' major projects.

The Board is working closely with all jurisdictions to establish clear advice for schools on the Australian Curriculum and its implications for schools.

The mandatory NSW curriculum is the existing syllabus documents for English, mathematics, science and history. The Joint Memorandum of November 2010 continues to represent the correct status of the Australian Curriculum in NSW. I am hoping to provide further advice to schools as soon as possible.

You may be aware that the Board of Studies was requested by the former Minister to undertake a review of the School Certificate. This review is being conducted to ensure the SC remains a relevant, modern and meaningful credential for those students who leave prior to undertaking their HSC.

It is expected that the Board will be releasing a discussion document toward the middle of 2011 to seek the views of the community about how this can be achieved.

The conduct of this review does not have any impact on the 2011 School Certificate which will be conducted as normal. School Certificate tests will be held on November 7 and 8, 2011, with Computing Skills tests held from November 9 - 11.