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The Primary School Survival Guides are resources to help students and their parents prepare for each primary school year. Each Primary School Guide provides detailed information about each year of Primary School to help parents make the right decisions for their child.
In each Primary School Guide, we present:
These Primary School Survival Guides are written for parents and guardians of primary aged children to help them navigate their way through the challenges and demands of primary school.
You’ll find that many of your concerns are common amongst parents and will be clarified by these guides.
In NSW, and across Australia, learning is broken into stages. Each Stage of learning comprises two years of a child’s education. For example, Years 1 and 2 make up Stage 1.
This allows schools and education departments at state and federal levels to be aligned in terms of student outcomes and essential content across different education systems.
The flowchart below will help you see the progression of stages and years in primary school.
You can find detailed information on Stages 2 and 3 in our Primary School Survival Guides.
Throughout primary school, your child will grow their knowledge on the same subjects from Kindergarten to Year 6. These subjects are listed below.
You can find the syllabi and stage statements for each subject at every stage of primary school with the links below.
1. Years 1-2: Stage 1 syllabus
2. Years 3-4: Stage 2 syllabus
3. Years 5-6: Stage 3 syllabus
Note that the language(s) that your child will study depends on their school choice.
Stage 1 marks the start of your child’s formal education. During this stage, your child will acquire many skills fundamental for their later years.
In Years 1 & 2, students start having clear subjects. In addition, students are exposed to a wide variety of subjects and, depending on school, have the opportunity to begin the formal learning of a language.
The subjects students will focus on the most are:
In addition, students will be exposed to:
| Year | Milestone |
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
|
In Stage 2, your child’s academic achievement will be formally measured with their first NAPLAN assessment and the Opportunity Class Placement Test. These standardised tests will allow you to see how well your child performs compared to the rest of the state and the country.
The important milestones and achievements for Stage 2 are:
| Year | Milestone |
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
|
Stage 3 is the final stage of primary school. Your child will have the chance to sit the NAPLAN in Year 5, and the Selective School Entrance Test in Year 6. Good results in both of these exams may be required to gain entry into the high school of your choice.
| Year | Milestone |
| 5 |
|
| 6 |
|
Now you know what to expect, read the specific
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