Sample plans and resources
Samples provided by NESA and by other home schooling parents can help guide you. See sample home schooling plans and patterns of study.
Sample home schooling plans
The following samples are excerpts from materials developed by home schooling parents. They show a variety of ways that educational plans and records can be presented.
The samples do not mandate any particular approach. They are intended to support parents by showing a range of approaches used by other parents for planning and record keeping. The sample excerpts do not form a complete educational program for any child.
You may use the samples to prepare educational plans to meet your child’s individual learning needs. In particular, the samples may provide a useful starting point if you are new to home schooling.
In all cases, the parents providing the samples have certified that the sample is originally created. The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has removed any identifying features from the samples. The samples may refer to commercial resources; NESA does not endorse any particular resources for home schooling.
The samples do not currently reference any of the newly released NESA syllabuses. More support materials using the new syllabuses are being developed. Samples will be refreshed from time to time.
The Guidelines for Home Schooling Registration in NSW describe the requirements and process for home schooling registration.
Sample plans
- Sample plan for Stage 1 – History Term 1 – 'The Past in the Present' (PDF 48.17KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 4 – Home school schedule (PDF 211.56KB)
- Sample plan for Primary and Secondary Years (PDF 2.28MB)
- Sample plan for Stage 2 – Mathematics (PDF 163.41KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 2 – Creative Arts (PDF 210.37KB)
- Sample reporting of progress for Stage 2 (PDF 155.51KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 1 – English (PDF 212.49KB)
- Sample plan for Stage 1 – PDHPE (PDF 130.92KB)
Sample home schooling patterns of study
A pattern of study is the selection of courses studied over Years 11 and 12. The pattern includes the:
- number of courses to be studied
- sequence in which the courses will be taught
- number of units for each course.
Most courses have a 2-unit value. A unit is a measure of time with 1 unit based on 60 hours of study in a year and 2 units based on 120 hours of study in a year. The syllabus identifies the unit value for the course.
A Year 11 educational program must include a minimum of 12 units (including 2 units of English). As most Year 11 courses are 2-unit courses, a Year 11 student typically studies a 2-unit English course and 5 other 2-unit courses.
A Year 12 educational program should include a minimum of 10 units (including 2 units of English). As most Year 12 courses are 2-unit courses, a Year 12 student typically studies a 2-unit English course and 4 other 2-unit courses.
In both Year 11 and 12, the pattern of study must include:
- a 2-unit English course
- at least 6 units of NESA developed courses
- 3 courses of 2-unit value
- at least 4 subjects.
Additional information about Years 11 and 12 is available in section 10 of the Home Schooling Guidelines.
Sample resources
Sample patterns of study for Years 11 and 12 students
Additional resources are described in section 15 of the Home Schooling Guidelines.