NESA, 2023 states:
We no longer need to tick off every box for every student, but instead can focus on what each individual needs the most - even across multiple stages.
From NESA, 2023:
This requires two things.
Select the focus: In the new Syllabus, a Topic has one or more “Focus Areas”. Each Focus Area provides a specific list of Content to target as part of a Stage, along with Outcome(s). Selecting Topics and their Focus Areas for a given course’s Scope and Sequence is discussed below.
Bake in adaptability: Create and document a plan which allows all students to grow along a continuum, using the Topic’s Content as a focus. Students should all move closer to meeting those Outcomes, and go beyond if possible. This includes:
Here is a full example, documenting a topic in full.
Stage 3 contains:
Within a given Stage, the A and B Focus Areas are a little different: “Part A typically focuses on early concept development. Part B builds on these early concepts.” (NESA, 2023).
Across multiple Stages, the same Focus Area name is usually used, but not always. Each Focus Area sits within a single Strand: Number and algebra; Measurement and space; or Statistics and Probability. This can be visualised as follows:
There is flexibility with how these form plans for any given year (NESA, 2023). However, one approach which could work in many contexts would be to create an “A” year and a “B” year, targeting Year 5 and Year 6 respectively. Here is an example of how this would look:
Stage 4 contains 16 distinct Focus Areas:
These are grouped into 9 “Broad Outcome Groups”. For example, the Focus Area “Volume” sits within the Broad Outcome Group “Length, area and volume”. These Broad Outcome Groups span Stages 4 and 5. Each Broad Outcome Group sits within a single Strand: Number and algebra; Measurement and space; or Statistics and Probability. This can be visualised as follows:
There is flexibility with how these 16 Focus Areas can form distinct sets for Years 7 and 8, including the option of some overlap or repetition (NESA, 2023). Here is an example of how this could look:
Stage 5 contains a whopping 41 Focus Areas, but there is no expectation that a given course contains all of these. Instead, they act as a sort of “menu” we can pick from to create different parallel “Streams” in Year 9 and 10, to prepare students for specific HSC subjects.
Some Focus Areas are referred to as “Core” in the Syllabus. This means that all Year 9/10 Streams should include them. There are 18 Core Focus Areas:
Core Focus Areas are grouped into 9 “Broad Outcome Groups”. For example, the Focus Area “Volume A” sits within the Broad Outcome Group “Length, area and volume”. These Broad Outcome Groups span Stages 4 and 5. Each Broad Outcome Group sits within a single Strand: Number and algebra; Measurement and space; or Statistics and Probability. This can be visualised as follows:
The remaining 23 Focus Areas we are able to mix and match to form our Year 9 and 10 Streams.
Mathematics Standard has 6 Path Focus Areas:
*These five Focus Areas are tagged with both Stn and Adv in the Syllabus. They are the only ones which overlap.
Mathematics Advanced has 18 Path Focus Areas:
*These five Focus Areas are tagged with both Stn and Adv in the Syllabus. They are the only ones which overlap.
Mathematics Extension has 4 Path Focus Areas:
Using these Focus Areas, we can form different Streams of Year 9 and 10 maths to prepare students for specific HSC subjects - by starting with the Core Focus Areas, and adding appropriate Path Focus Areas to each stream. There are many ways to do this (NESA, 2023). However, one sensible approach for many contexts is to have three streams:
Here is an example of how this could look for Year 9:
Here is a full example, providing full Scope and Sequence and Topic documentation.
Here is a matching example of how this could look for Year 10:
Here is a full example, providing full Scope and Sequence and Topic documentation.
These Outcomes line up closely with the Focus Areas, which are what contain the actual content. There is often a one-to-one relationship between an Outcome and a Focus Area, but not always. Sometimes one Focus Area contains more than one Outcome, and sometimes the same Outcome maps to multiple Focus Areas.
We will see how to incorporate Outcomes into Topic Planning in an example below.
Each Stage contains a set of mathematics Life Skills Outcomes. For example, Stage 5 contains the Life Skills Outcome:
These Outcomes map to Focus Areas, which are what contain the actual content. Many Focus Areas list one or more Life Skills Outcomes. A single Life Skills Outcome can map to multiple Focus Areas.
We will see how to incorporate Life Skills Outcomes into Topic Planning in an example below.
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