Implementing the new curriculum

One thing on the agenda for almost every school in Australia at the moment is transitioning to the new maths curriculum document. While every State and Territory has a different timeline for implementation, and a slightly different curriculum, for most schools, 2025 will be a year of change.

Transitioning to a new curriculum is not 'quick' or 'easy' job and in many ways can seem like a thankless task.

When we think about the goals we set for our school in our Annual Action plan, we might think about changing our instructional approach, introducing a whole school approach to an area such as place value, or developing teacher PCK around x,y, or z. These are 'moving the needle' type goals.

Familiarizing staff with the new curriculum is a huge job, and should definitely be a goal on our Action plans, but it may feel like a job that is necessary, but not necessarily moving us forward in our practice. 

That may be frustrating for you as a leader or teacher.

I liken this feeling to a recent experience I had with our oven. (If you are a keen follower of my blog, you will know our oven has now featured twice in my blog- who would have thought?! Here is the other blog if you are interested!)

When we moved into our house, there was an ageing side-by-side double oven. It has worked well for two years, however it has recently started to falter. 

I would describe myself as a 'functional chef'- I cook for the purpose of feeding my family, it is not something I particularly enjoy, and if I am being honest, I have hardly ever used both ovens.

But when the oven started to have problems, it quickly became clear this was not going to be a 'quick' or 'easy' fix.

I called to oven repair man, and he confirmed that the news wasn't good. We needed to buy a new oven😯. This was not what I was hoping to hear. Clearly the oven plays a crucial role in the successful running of our house, and is not something we can avoid replacing.

We had two options. Buy another double oven (limited to only a few brands because of the unusual size of the old oven🤦‍♀️) or install a single oven, and have a cabinet marker fill the void by installing new cupboards.

Not sure if you have looked at the price of double ovens recently, but I nearly fell off the couch as I scrolled through the 'Appliances Online' website! Some are close to the price of a small car, and retro-fitting cupboards is not a task cabinet makers are overly keen to take on!

We tossed around the options, but there was no escaping the fact that replacing the oven was going to be a necessary cost and put a significant dent in our savings. 

I started thinking about all the things we 'could have' put that money towards. Perhaps something more 'shiny', like a small bathroom upgrade, or a family trip, but unfortunately the oven had to take priority.

I liken this to the implementation of the new curriculum.

Just like the oven in my kitchen, the gap the old curriculum leaves is significant, and is something we cannot avoid replacing. The oven is the heart of the kitchen, it is something we use everyday, and we struggle to function without it- this is also true of the curriculum!

While in schools we would love to be putting our energy and time into something more 'shiny', like working on our 'moving the needle' type goals, we must put necessity first for one year, and implement the new curriculum.  

If I am being honest, I have resented the time I have spent organising our new oven. Electricians, Plumbers, ordering, delivery and installation, removal of old oven- it is a process that I don't really have the time or energy for... and you may feel the same about the curriculum implementation process at your school. There is so much going on in schools. Workload is a key issue. Teacher retention is an issue. The explicit 'vs' Inquiry debate that is raging. All of this is extremely taxing and time-consuming for school leaders to manage, so it is natural to feel a little resentment towards the new documents!

For the most part (obviously depending on the size and structure of your school), the job of introducing the new curriculum falls onto middle leadership. This is a big responsibility to carry. The task of wading through the curriculum resources and distilling them into a neat little package for your staff is time and energy consuming.

Let's face it...sharing the new curriculum is not the most thrilling topic to present. Teachers aren't typically walking into a staff meeting with a 'spring in their step' when 'New Curriculum' is placed on the agenda for an after school staff meeting- believe me, I have seen this firsthand as people walk into meetings I have been running in several schools this term (most do walk out of my sessions more enthused about the new curriculum though- so that is a win!)!

Part of my job is knowing the curriculum inside out so I can guide and support schools and if I am being honest, I have actually loved going through the new curriculum documents! I have literally spent weeks doing this over the course of the last year! I do, however, appreciate that not everyone shares my passion for curriculum (or has this much time to dedicate to this task)!🧐

If unpacking the new curriculum for your staff keeps dropping to the bottom of your to-do list, you are not alone. I think the burden is very heavy for Numeracy and Curriculum Leaders who are expected to lead their staff through the changes. While various government agencies provide support for leaders- it still takes hours and hours to get your head around these documents and it seems crazy that every school is struggling with the same problem.

I am always looking for ways to save schools and teachers time. I have been to schools this term running staff meetings and PD days related to the new curriculum, but the reality is I can't get around to every school. So, I have decided to offer some PD days for leaders across Australia in Term 4, 2024.

In these sessions I will run through the new curriculum (Victorian v.2.0 or Australian v9.0 depending on which curriculum you are using), and provide you with an 'E-Show Bag' (just made that term up!) of powerpoints, PDFs and resources to successfully introduce the new curriculum documents to your staff.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in hearing more about, click here to register your interest!

Meanwhile, I encourage you to think of the curriculum, like my new oven, a necessary and important gap to focus on in 2025 and one that, if introduced with fidelity, can actually be part of the 'needle-moving' process!

Have a great week!

Ange🎲🎓

P.S. You can download the PDF version of this blog to print or share with colleagues here.