Drone studies, puppetry and cartooning to go in curriculum cleanup

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Drone studies, puppetry and cartooning to go in curriculum cleanup

By Jordan Baker

The government will cut more than 80 school-developed courses as part of its plan to pare back an overcrowded curriculum, but critics say the move fails to ease the burden for most teachers and students as the subjects were studied by so few.

Circus skills, which had 82 enrolments last year, classical ballet and travel and tourism will be among those to go, as will drone basics, studied by four students last year, leather, studied by three, and puppetry, studied by none.

Also on the chopping block are Catholic Studies Life Skills, bushcraft, game design, cartooning, music theatre, philosophy and equine studies. Big history, a Macquarie University-developed subject on the evolution of the universe from the big bang, will also go.

Drone studies is one of the year 9-10 electives that will be cut under a new policy

Drone studies is one of the year 9-10 electives that will be cut under a new policy Credit: James Brickwood

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the government had exceeded its target of reducing the elective courses developed by high schools by at least 20 per cent. “We need our schools to be focussed on the core learning areas,” Ms Berejiklian said.

The NSW Standards Authority (NESA) allows schools to develop their own courses, subject to NESA endorsement. They are developed in response to a particular need at that individual school, and could only be run there.

Under the new policy, all 62 school-developed electives for years 9 and 10 will be phased out over 2021 and 2022. Students in those years will have to select subjects developed by NESA. Languages, Auslan and Braille will remain.

New criteria for school-developed courses will require them to be of high quality and cover material not already addressed in the syllabus.

“[Classical ballet students] can do the dance course already offered as an elective,” said Ms Berejiklian. “Looking at those criteria, if there’s already an overlap, that will mean it’s no longer eligible to continue.”

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Students who once studied travel and tourism can do a VET [Vocational Education and Training] certificate in tourism. Schools can still design year 11 and 12 courses if the course is in high demand, but the government expects almost half of the 45 existing courses to go because they fail to meet the new criteria.

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The NSW Curriculum Review, released in final form last year, called for a reduction in content so teachers did not have to rush from dot point to dot point, and could ensure their students grasped the content in greater depth.

Craig Petersen, the head of the Secondary Principals Council, said cutting school-developed courses was window dressing on the problem. “They’re missing the point about decluttering the curriculum,” he said.

“Reducing the number of subjects was not what principals were calling for. It was the imposition of things like healthy eating, road safety, all those extraneous things that traditionally parents or church would have been responsible for.

“As those other institutions in the community break down or cease to exist, schools are asked to pick up the slack. That’s what schools are calling for [to be reduced], not a reduction in specific courses.

“It also doesn’t take pressure off English and maths and biology and history to allow them to provide a more in-depth, engaging experience for their students.”

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said tackling school-developed courses was the first milestone in the curriculum review, and new kindergarten to year 2 maths and English syllabuses would be next. They are due to be released for consultation in March.

The rest of the curriculum, including year 12, will be revised by 2024.

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