Record of changes for Science

Minor amendments to the Science Years 7–10 Syllabus: Volume 2

(Official Notice NESA 47/18)

The following minor amendments have been made to the Science 7–10 Syllabus – Volume 2 (2012) to ensure alignment with the changes introduced in the Science and Technology K–6 Syllabus (2018).

Changes include:

• a syllabus name change to Science Years 7–10 Syllabus (2018)
• amendments to the introduction of the syllabus and to the diversity of learners’ text
• removal of the previous K–6 Outcomes and Content
• amendment to diagrams for the Place of the Syllabus and the Organisation of Content
• replacement of the Stage Statements for Early Stage 1 to Stage 3.

In addition, the term ‘qualitatively’ has been deleted from content points in the Stage 5 Physical World strand to clarify the intent of the content. The amended syllabus is to be implemented from Term 1, 2019.

Advice to teachers of Science about Creationism and Intelligent Design

(Official Notice BOS 17/09)

In developing the NSW Science curriculum, the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA – formerly the Board of Studies NSW) undertook extensive consultation with experts in the field to ensure that content, including that relating to evolution, would be consistent with accepted scientific knowledge and understanding.

NESA wishes to remind teachers that Creationism and Intelligent Design are not part of NESA’s Science syllabuses. If taught as part of any school-based program, it must be clear to students that Creationism and Intelligent Design:

• are not scientific, nor evidence-based
• will not be included in any task that forms part of the assessment of student achievement for the award of the Higher School Certificate
• will not be tested in any Higher School Certificate exam and will not be relevant to any response to Higher School Certificate questions.