Universal curriculum resources to assist lesson planning

Teachers in NSW will now have access to a full suite of sequenced curriculum resources to assist them with lesson planning.

Feedback from more than 4000 submissions to a review of teacher workload identified the need for universal curriculum resources.

These findings are supported by a recent national study by the Grattan Institute. Its research found that centralised resources could save teachers an average of three hours per week — with 86% of teachers across Australia reporting they ‘always’ or ‘frequently’ do not have enough time for high-quality lesson planning.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the new resources would have a revolutionary impact on teacher workload.

“Teachers have told us how much they love their profession but the number one tax on their time is finding or producing high-quality teaching resources,” he said.

“We want to ease that workload by providing online access to universally available learning curriculum materials they can draw from to free up lesson planning time each week.

“This will be further supported by more than 200 new administration and support staff in schools from Term 4, to allow our teachers to focus on what they love — teaching.”

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the new resources will transform education in NSW.

“This is a game changer for teachers in NSW,” she said.

“Teachers have told us that finding or making high-quality resources that align with the curriculum is the number one tax on their time.

“We’ve listened closely to our teaching staff, developing online, high-quality, centralised, universally available learning materials they can draw on.”

Mitchell also said the new universally available resources would lift student outcomes across the board.

“This is not about taking the creativity out of teaching — that’s what our teachers do best. It’s about providing teachers with a basic recipe for student success, while allowing them to contextualise how they use the ingredients to get the best outcomes for their students,” she said.

A competitive tender process is currently underway for qualified organisations to partner with the NSW Department of Education in developing the new quality-assured online curriculum content, which will begin rolling out from Term 4 2022.

Image caption: NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell at Cammeray Public School with Year 6 students (from left) Mimi Woodhouse, Harriet Barnett and Tyler Hogan, Principal Kerry McConaghy and Aboriginal artist Bibi Barba.