-more about the Curriculum Planning and Programming materials
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Eltis report :
Recommendations in areas of
•Managing curriculum demands
•Assessment and reporting
•Professional development
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

“
It has long been the practice to leave it to schools to develop their own teaching programs based on the syllabuses issued to them. As so many teachers and principals said during the course of the evaluation: we are all reinventing the wheel.
“The time may well have come when we should re-think our position on this matter and while taking measures not to undermine teacher professionalism and independence to create individual teaching programs, provide more detailed frameworks to assist the delivery of a school’s teaching program.”
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Board of Studies
Foundation Statements
 Getting the balance right information for K - 6 teachers in public schools
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Policy: Curriculum planning and programming, assessing and reporting to parents K-12
1.1 Curriculum planning and programming
1.1.1 Schools plan curriculum and develop teaching programs which are consistent with the Education Act and Board of Studies syllabuses and credentialing requirements.
1.1.2 Curriculum planning and teaching programs will meet the Policy
Standards.
1.1.3 Teachers develop quality teaching programs that are appropriate for the stage of learning and which address the needs of all students.
1.1.4 Teaching programs will incorporate assessment as an integral component.
1.1.5 Teaching programs will indicate the outcomes being addressed, the teaching activities planned and the intended assessment strategies.
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Policy standards – Planning and programming
Years K – 6
Learning programs, based on Board of Studies (BOS) syllabuses, are to be provided to address each learning area in each year of schooling.
In providing curriculum, schools are to ensure that priority is given to
English and Mathematics in all primary years especially in the early years.
Schools have flexibility in how they deliver learning programs, for example through integrated programs, provided that:
approximately 50% of time is allocated for English and Mathematics and 40 % of time for the other KLAs and sport
as part of the 40% allocation, schools are to include two hours per week for planned physical activity, including in Years 3 – 6, a minimum of one hour for sport
provision is made for Special Religious Education in each primary year, where authorised personnel from approved providers are available.
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Website support for schools http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/timetoteach/index.htm
Curriculum planning, programming, assessing and reporting to parents
K-12 since December
2005
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

The curriculum planning and programming framework provides three levels of support:
Level 1: A curriculum planning framework of connected outcomes groups organises outcomes from four KLAs connected by a common focus. (This also includes a poster of all English and Mathematics outcomes)
Level 2: Descriptions of the connected outcome groups which explain the connection for each KLA in the group, identifies relevant syllabus content and lists or links to readily-available resources.
Level 3: Units of work , one for each connected outcome group, translate the framework into programming support. The units of work contain teaching and learning activities with literacy and numeracy links included, and planned assessment.
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Level 1 - Curriculum planning framework:
• overview of the primary curriculum (all outcomes in two documents for easy reference )
• primacy of English and Mathematics
• all outcomes are shown and written in full once only (the outcome code is written when outcomes are revisited)
• Connected Outcomes Groups (COGs) are used to organise Science and Technology, Human Society and Its Environment, Creative Arts and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education)
• Physical education is a separate group to ensure all students participate in 120 minutes of planned physical activity each week.
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

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•
•
•
•
Curriculum planning framework
– Connected Outcomes Groups (COGs): natural connections to maximise significant learning opportunities for students and allow the curriculum to be taught more efficiently all outcomes have been addressed
- adequate repetition across the stage
- outcomes addressed in different contexts (focus KLAs) outcome groups have been tracked across stages in ‘strings’ (e.g.. A = Our
place ES1, Local Places S1, Local Environments S2 and Living Land S3) to support programming for multi-stage classes and small schools approximately one connected outcome group per term - eight groups per stage - six smaller groups in Early Stage 1) not all KLAs are addressed in each connected outcomes group but are covered across a stage
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

How can the framework be used?
• use the framework to develop an odd and even year scope and sequence
• compare this framework to your current scope and sequence
(to ensure all outcomes and syllabus content for each KLA are addressed)
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Level 2 - Connected Outcomes Groups
(COGS) description pages :
• are organised around a connection focus or big idea
• describe how the outcomes for each KLA connect
• show how several outcomes can be addressed at the one time
• identify relevant content from each KLA
• provide examples of literacy and numeracy connections
• link existing resources provided to schools by DET and
Board of Studies (including links to websites)
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

How can the COG description pages be used?
• to write a school based unit of work (e.g. gathering resources listed and local resources to develop learning experiences)
• to write a multi-staged unit of work (e.g. use and adapt COG description pages from stages in a ‘string’)
• as an introduction to the unit for teachers where teachers use the description overview to highlight key ideas and list teaching ideas and learning experiences
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Exploring COG connections:
10 minutes
1.
Choose the connection description for the stage you are teaching.
2.
Read the connection and use these questions to plan 5 to 10 possible learning experiences or a rich task, focussing on:
– What do I want the students to learn?
– What do I want them to produce?
– How well do I expect them to do it?
– Why does the learning matter?
3.
Record ideas
4.
Share to explore links and a continuum of learning across stages
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

For each unit there is:
• a cover page that details the connection focus, how content from each key learning area contributes to the connection focus, sample learning experiences and examples of planned assessment
• a planning page to assist with organisation such as resources, excursions and student work. The term planner can be used to plan the weekly sequence of lessons.
• a sequence of teaching/learning activities including:
- outcomes with indicators to clarify the purpose of each lesson
- sample assessment strategies and criteria that link assessment with teaching and learning
- literacy and numeracy links
- links to resources and websites
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Level 3 Unit of work cover page
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Unit of work planning page
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Level 3 - Units of work learning experiences
The units are detailed examples of learning experiences that have been developed from the COGs description pages.
The units of work show:
• a sequence of lessons that address outcomes based around the connection focus
• the depth of knowledge required to address the outcomes for each key learning area
• assessment that is planned and linked to learning experiences
• the content from each key learning area contributing to the overall focus
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

How can the units of work be used?
Teachers can:
- trial and adapt the units to suit the needs of their students and school community
- select teaching and learning activities from units for a ‘string’ to create a program for a multistage class
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

20 minutes
1.
In stage groups, read the unit of work and explore how the learning experiences connect.
2. Look at the unit in light of quality teaching:
Focus on elements of: deep knowledge, deep understanding, explicit quality criteria, knowledge integration and connectedness
3. Record ideas
4. Share
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

“ COGs take the stress out of trying to make sure you cover each outcome because the units connect beautifully. Students enjoy working on COGs as it allows them to get involved in a theme over along period of time. “
Harrington Street Public School, south western Sydney region
“Many of us at Ryde East feel COGS is the greatest timesaver presented to teachers for a very long time – it gives scope and structure and practical ideas, particularly for those dance and drama strands that often get lost in the busy curriculum”
Ryde East Public School, northern Sydney region
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Making connections: COGs in the classroom (students)
“
COGs make links between curriculum areas and build on prior knowledge (for students) to gain deep understandings of the concepts. The COGs units (give) more time to engage deeply with concepts and ideas within a unit.”
- Stage 1 teacher, Wirreanda Public School, Hunter/Central Coast region
“When I trialled Global Society as my first COG it was like climbing a mountain. However, my students’ work was unbelievable and they are teachers and Year 7 teachers were most impressed with students’ achievements in Creative Arts.”
– Stage 3 teacher, William Dean Public School, western Sydney region undertook activities that related to the COG. This gave students an holistic learning experience where they were able to link learning experiences together.”
- Harrington Street Public School, south western Sydney region
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

• reflect policy advice that 50% of available teaching time be allocated to English and
Mathematics
• 40% of teaching time is allocated to the other
KLAs and the mandatory two hours of physical activity (includes 60 minutes of sport in years 3-6)
• 10% is additional time to be used to meet school priorities
(p.4 Getting the balance right)
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Sport
9:00
11:00
11:00 –
11:20
11:20
–
1:00
1:00
1:55
1:55
3:00
–
–
–
English English
English
English
COG SRE
PE
Recess
PE PE
Maths
Maths Maths Maths
COG
COG COG
Lunch
COG COG COG
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training
English
Maths
COG
COG

• The English program will identify systematic and explicit teaching of talking and listening, reading and writing
• The Mathematics program will provide a sequential learning program that builds on strategies that students are currently using to solve problems
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Making connections: English, Mathematics and COGs
• COGs may inform English and Mathematics
The content from a COGs learning experience (e.g. a poster or a graph) can be used as the context for teaching a specific aspect of
English or Mathematics.
• English and Mathematics may inform COGs
An English or Mathematics lesson (e.g. a shared book or features of a graph) can provide the skills and understanding required for a COGs lesson
.
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Making connections: COGs in the classroom
(organisation)
“COGs allow for … professional dialogue and planning with colleagues, including the teacher-librarian, computing teacher and RFF teacher, ensures consistency. We have differentiated the COGs for our GATS class. COGs work well with teachers who share a class. “
- Ryde East Public School, northern Sydney region
“We have a large 90% NESB school. COGs is working well through a whole school, integrated approach that includes teachers of ESL, library, community language and computers.”
- Harrington Street Public School, south western Sydney region
“We have adapted the material to suit the specific learning needs of our students.
This year we have developed a scope and sequence to ensure all outcomes are addressed throughout a stage. We involve our community language, ESL, RFF and teacher-librarian in taking part of each unit.
- Eastlakes Public School, Sydney region
“All our staff are using COGs. We plan our day around literacy, numeracy and COGs and we have organised our resources around COGs.”
- William Dean Public School, western Sydney region
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Making connections: COGs in the classroom (QT)
“Elements of QT are embedded in the learning tasks. We modify units to suit our students’ needs but both our students and parents understand the connections.”
- Harrington Street Public School, south western Sydney region
“COGs has provided the foundation for our quality teaching journey. Students and parents were surveyed pre- and posttrialling of our COG units. Results revealed significant increases (greater than 10%) in parent and student perceptions of student self- regulation, self-direction, knowledge integration and explicit quality criteria. The implementation of
COGs has enhanced pedagogy and collegiality and streamlined curriculum planning. COG units are adapted to reflect student, teacher and community needs.”
- Wirreanda Public School, Hunter/Central Coast region
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training

Making further connections
• Updated materials available on the website: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/timetoteach
/
(further support in assessment of all KLAs, and English and
Mathematics programming will be progressively added to the site)
• Trial, give feedback, work samples, ideas…
Contact us by email: cogs@det.nsw.edu.au
© 2006 NSW Department of Education and Training