The roll-out of a new curriculum can be overwhelming for teachers and school leaders. Unfortunately, no extra time or resources are offered to schools as they begin understanding and implementing the changes. The best way to move through a curriculum change is to find the support you need from your colleagues and curriculum tools to help guide you through the process.
There are three simple steps to ensure your school is on track to successfully switch to the new curriculum and comply with your state’s regulations.
Understand what’s happening in your state
Each state has its own approach to the curriculum, so understanding what’s required is the first step to switching over. Understandably, it takes time to learn about the changes, so give yourself a moment and reach out to your team to see if a professional development session on the new curriculum is possible and what resources your school has available to support you.
There are great online resources for the NSW Syllabus, Victorian Curriculum, and Australian Curriculum, plus heaps of downloadable resources to get your planning started.
Maths Pathway is here to support you in implementing the new curriculum at your school. Find out what you need to know, how it affects your classroom and planning, and how you can bring the moving parts together so your transition is seamless.
Check out our curriculum pages to learn more.
Implementing the NSW Syllabus Change
Explore the Australian Curriculum Version 9
Victorian Curriculum Version 2 resources
Confidently implement the new curriculum
Once your school has confirmed which curriculum they are aligning to, it’s time to dive into the details and explore the main changes.
In the new maths curriculum, the content structure has been simplified to 6 strands (Number, Algebra, Measurement, Space, Statistics, and Probability) by removing sub-strands and proficiency strands. The aim of this is to ensure students gain a deeper understanding of the core mathematical knowledge and skills. This will also reduce the pressure on teachers to incorporate additional content and improve the conceptual progression of learning.
Overview of the changes
| Content removed and reduced | sub-strands and separate proficiency strands removed and, instead, content is organised in six clear strands – number, algebra, measurement, space, statistics, and probability – and the proficiencies embedded within those strands. |
| Content resequenced | – introduction to probability moved from Year 1 to Foundation – reading time on an analogue clock moved from Year 1 to Year 2 – introduction to fractions moved from Year 1 to Year 2 – introduction to additive patterns moved from Year 3 to Year 2 – recalling multiplication facts moved from Year 3 to Year 4 – percentages introduced in Year 5 – using fractions to represent probabilities moved from Year 5 to Year 6 |
| Content separated | – represent practical situations to model addition and sharing in Foundation – counting collections to 100 by partitioning numbers using place value in Year 1 – representing data with objects and drawings and describe the displays Year 1 |
| Content added | – computational thinking content in algebra, space, and probability Year 3–6. |
Timelines for each curriculum
| Australian Curriculum Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum has been ready to implement since 2023 but schools are able to switch over on their own timelines. Until then version 8.4 is still available to schools until they have fully transitioned. | Victorian Curriculum For those aligning with version 2 of the Victorian Curriculum we now know that full implementation must begin in 2025. Until then we need to familiarise ourselves so we’re ready to switch over by the end of the year. You can find detailed information about the Victorian Curriculum V2 here. | NSW Syllabus In 2023 schools planned and prepared for the new 3-10 syllabuses to be taught in NSW schools from 2024. This year schools switched over and should be well on their way to full implementation. |
There’s a lot to think about no matter what stage your school is at but Maths Pathway schools haven’t had to worry. We did all the hard work for them so they could focus on what is really important, supporting their students. The Maths Pathway program is fully aligned to every curriculum so no matter what state you’re in or what requirements your school has you can be confident that we’ve got you covered.
“I recently attended a PD where we discussed the ongoing curriculum change. Teachers were feeling stressed about the work that was ahead of them and others shared their strenuous process of a complete overhaul, but I just sat back, feeling relaxed, knowing that everything was taken care of with Maths Pathway.” – Jacqueline Armstrong, Freshwater Christian College
Show that your teaching is compliant
The last thing anyone wants to deal with is an audit to check the curriculum has been implemented appropriately, however, this is a reality so we need to make sure we’re prepared.
There are three important things you need to have ready.
1. Having a plan addressing all curriculum requirements (i.e. scope and sequence)
2. Record of what you actually did (adjustments that you made to cater to the needs of your students)
3. How that manifested with students (high, medium, low achievers) samples of work, grades and progress.
Maths Pathway teachers can be prepared for an audit in no time with all the data and information they need easily accessible and downloadable in the teacher portal.
The information teachers can quickly access:
- Scope and sequence
- Assessment plan
- Record of your annotations to your units of work
- Work samples for a low, medium and high-achieving student
- Project resources including rubric assessment plan
- Reports from the End of Semester Reporting tool
- Curriculum Grid of learning profiles
- Test results summary
- You can also provide the record of each test with their assessment items, including student responses from the Individual Student Report
- The list of skills the student has acquired/demonstrated
- Student goals (available in the MP Classic platform)
If you’re getting ready to switch to the new curriculum but are finding the process overwhelming then get started with a no-obligation free trial of Maths Pathway to explore how our program makes it a breeze.
