Primary HSIE eNewsletterTerm 4 2015 Learning and Leadership Directorate

Welcome to Term 4 2015

We hope you have had a lovely break.

The next NSW HSIE State-wide Primary Staff Meeting held via Adobe Connect is scheduled for Tuesday, 24 November 2015, 3:15 – 3:45pm. These meetings are a quick snapshot of the support being provided by the Primary Education team, an update from BOSTES, and a chance to ask questions to State Office advisers (that we may answer live or research and get back to you). Whilst it will be same address that we always have had, we will send you the link for this closer to the date.

The K-6 Geography K-10 teaching and learning sequence has been developed by teachers at a regional community of schools. It is hoped that this first draft will be reviewed by another community of schools prior to being released for you to consider as part of your Geography K-10 implementation process. It is will be released in a word format for you to amend, adapt and use as required.

Please forward this eNewsletter and attachments onto colleagues, who are encouraged to subscribe to the HSIE K-6

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email network by emailing their details to my contact details below.

Kind regards

Anne Southwell HSIE Advisoranne.southwell@det.nsw.edu.au 9244 5772

ContentsHistory implementation support

History syllabus implementation hints and tips

HSIE – Geography K-10 syllabus implementation advice

Latest version of Geography Inquiry process

Refugees from Syria – Cultural Orientation Resources Centre (COR)

DoE Environmental Education Centres links

Professional Learning opportunities

School visits program at Government House, Sydney

HSIE K-12 Yammer

Links

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History implementation support

Option 1: Face to face workshops

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Workshop details and locations (Search MyPL using the Event ID to find specific workshops)1. 21 October at Narrandera

- Your school and the History K-6 syllabus - register on MyPL (Event ID 11692), accessed via this link- If you have already completed this course you may like to enroll in A process for planning and programming a

unit of learning for History K-10, accessed via this link2. 30 October at Maitland

- Your school and the History K-6 syllabus register on MyPL using Event ID 116404,3. 3 November at Batemans Bay

- Your school and the History K-6 syllabus – register on MyPL using Event ID 116293 accessed via this link- If you have already completed this course you may like to enroll in A process for planning and programming a

unit of learning accessed via this link4. 20 November at Maitland

- A process for planning a unit of learning for History K-10 register on MyPL using Event ID 116407

Option 2: School organised professional learningSome schools are also scheduling their own events to deliver the following courses face to face by teachers.1. Your school and the history K-6 syllabus, Course code 151ELP006 http://lrr.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/LRRView/14390/2. A process for planning a unit of learning for History K-10, Course code 151ELP007

http://lrr.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/LRRView/14387/

Consider sharing your experiences and resources which support your schools implementation of history and geography on Yammer using the HSIE K-12 Yammer group. This is also a forum to ask questions and seek specific support materials.

Option 3: Individual participation in an online courseIndividual teachers who are unable to participate in an Educational Services workshop or a school workshop event can enroll in the online Event and undertake this at their own pace individually or with a partner.1. Your school and the history syllabus K-6 online Event ID 1157562. A process for programming a unit of learning for history K-10 online Event ID 115760

The course administrator will confirm participation and send out the information about the online course following confirmation.

Please note: You are unable to repeat a course and gain the same accreditation more than once.

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History syllabus implementation hints and tips

The K-10 history syllabus provides enhanced flexibility in the case studies or contexts that are used by teachers to engage students in learning history. These are going to vary from school to school.

Take some time to get to know the syllabus requirements – not just the stage descriptions, but the concepts, skills, and the DoE historical inquiry support material available online here. This is time well spent as this provides knowledge with which to make informed choices.

There is a whole new ‘landscape’ of support materials available now, which support the use of digital primary sources with students of all ages. Teachers need to evaluate all support materials for syllabus fit, practicality and suitability to support student learning progress.

Use program builder to plan and program, note that the Scootle resource repository is now linked allowing these resources, ideas and links to be imbedded in the unit.

Developing your own content knowledge and understanding, inclusive of how to use historical inquiry, historical concepts and skills, as part of lifelong learning which is interesting and engaging, and supports enjoyment of learning with the students in the classroom.

Civics and citizenship is now an integrated component of history (and geography). Use the online filter to find the specific content descriptions which require explicit teaching, while noting the additional implicit opportunities.

School and stage planning will need to be a little ‘fluid’ as teachers get to know the syllabus requirements, and as pedagogy expertise develops through practise along with students learning as historians and geographers improves through teacher and student use of the new syllabus. Ensure that ongoing evaluation is a key component of implementation.

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Teachers are providing feedback that they are finding that the traditional scope and sequence model of topic names organised by year or as an odd / even cycle for each stage does not support the learning described for history (and geography too) which is underpinned by a conceptual framework supported by skills, where learning is undertaken using the disciplined based process of historical inquiry and geographical inquiry.

Some schools are looking at finding that using ‘big ideas’ such as change, commemoration, peace, friendship, storytelling and journeys is a way to plan what (from the syllabus) and when this is to be covered. These big ideas can be scoped K-6, changing each year or identified for the terms in a stage. These are then mapped to the history / HSIE syllabuses (and Geography if implementation is being planned) and often other subjects as well. Substantial literacy and numeracy demands are a requirement of history (and geography).

Geography and History are distinct subject disciplines. A balance needs to be achieved where both are covered and supported equally using the specific features of the subject’s inquiry process. How this is done will depend on the case studies or contexts that are used to organise the learning described in the syllabuses.

A good example of a great classroom resource for Stage 3 content about the migration of people to Australia is http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/homepage/index.html particularly the ‘Objects through Time’, the Australian migration history timeline .

Support for geography K-10, including background information for teachers can be found here http://www.geogspace.edu.au/

History support materials attached with this newsletter:1. Historical inquiry flowchart2. Historical inquiry continuum descriptions3. Engaging with the history syllabus using the Quality Teaching questions.

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HSIE - Geography K-10 syllabus implementation advice

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BOSTES has also provided a HSIE K-6 Guide which provides additional details. All NSW schools are required to meet these requirements. Advice about the timelines to implement history and geography K-6 is available from BOSTES here http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/hsie/

Schools will receive official memorandums from BOSTES regarding syllabus / curriculum implementation requirements and should not make implementation decisions based on media reports.

A reminder that the Geography K-10 syllabus is out and we are now in the initial familiarisation stage of implementation. Primary schools can choose to implement next year (2016) or wait until 2017 when all primary schools will be required to implement geography. This is an individual school based decision and needs to take into consideration access to support, the expertise of teachers in the school and local events and organisation as it impacts on implementation strategies. It may be worth waiting for the DoE support materials to be published.

Geography in a Billabong is a recording of webinar presentation that we urge all teachers to look at. If you were not at the Adobe session for this session, this is the link https://connect.schools.nsw.edu.au/p20b8fr3k3b/

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Latest version of Geographical Inquiry ProcessPlease find following our latest version of the Geographical Inquiry Process following feedback from teachers. We encourage continued feedback about the content of this flowchart. The geography inquiry process is paramount to the achievement of course outcomes K-10.

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Refugees from Syria – Cultural Orientation Resources Centre (COR)The COR Center is a non-government organisation that focusses on information about refugee education. It is funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. The COR Center works closely with U.S. government agencies, international organisations, U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, formerly resettled refugees,

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Technical Assistance providers, community partners, mainstream service providers, and area specialists to assess needs and develop relevant and timely online and hard-copy orientation resources and group-specific materials. The COR Center has published background information on Syrian refugees and other cultural groups.

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DoE Environmental Education Centres linksThere are 24 Environmental Education Centres and 2 Zoo Education Centres across NSW. These centres run a variety of programs for students and teachers K-12, including site specific excursions. One of the features is the opportunity to undertake authentic fieldwork run by teachers with specialist field knowledge.

Department Environmental Education

Department Environmental Education Centres

Zoo Education (Taronga Zoo and Dubbo Zoo)

Professional Learning Opportunities

Connecting students to the world - Asia Education Foundation (AEF) Monday 19 October 2015

This conference explores how to use technologies to connect your classroom to the world; to plan global projects for students to develop intercultural understanding and 21st century capabilities and to build your knowledge of why and how students can develop global connections. It is a one-day professional learning opportunity for NSW teachers through the AEF’s BRIDGE School Partnerships Project

Australian Museum Teacher Open Night Thursday 22 October 2015

Teachers are invited to an exclusive free viewing of the museums new Crystal Hall and their three new exhibitions:

Bayala Nura: Yarning Country - celebrates the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures

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Garrigarrang: Sea Country - explores the special relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have with water

Wild Planet - stimulates thought about themes of global biodiversity, evolution, extinction and conservation.

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School visits program at Government House, Sydney

Commencing in February 2016, Government House will open its doors every Thursday to Years 5, 6 and special needs students as part of the re-introduction of this much-valued program.

The re-vitalised program which has been developed in collaboration with the NSW Department of Education will be funded by a $5 per head entry fee to cover staffing and administrative costs including the production of materials used in the program.

Participating students will be taken on a tour of the State Rooms, gardens and grounds, examining such elements as the role and responsibilities of the Governor, contemporary use of the house, symbols and heraldry, past governors, and the Australian honours system. Details here Details are available on the Government House web site https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/government-house/visit-us/school-visit-program/

The program will be piloted in term 4 of 2015 with online bookings opening in early 2016 at www.governor.nsw.gov.au.

DoE HSIE K-12 Yammer

Do have a look at, ask a question, post a comment, and share some of what you are doing on the HSIE K-12 Yammer group. There is significant value in primary and secondary teachers contributing to this discussion forum as there is a great deal we can learn from each other, as we engage with the K-10 history and Geography syllabuses.

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BOSTES is now on TwitterBOSTES has an official twitter account (@NewsAtBOSTES) for communicating BOSTES news and events to the teaching profession and broader community.

To support HSIE educators specifically, an additional BOSTES account has now been created. This will provide a dedicated location for accessing information, initiatives and news of interest covering K-12 HSIE subjects – including curriculum and assessment, resources and professional learning opportunities.

@hsieBOSTES

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If you do not wish to receive further eNewsletters or information from the HSIE K-6 at the DEC Learning and Leadership Directorate, Early Learning and Primary Education (HSIE), please email anne.southwell@det.nsw.edu.au

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