St Ives Public School

Truth and Courage

Telephone02 9144 1092

Emailstives-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Learning at our school

Find out more about what your child will learn at our school.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) is responsible for the curriculum, Kindergarten to Year 12, for all NSW schools.

For the primary years, NESA develops syllabuses for all subjects in 6 key learning areas:

  • creative arts
  • English
  • human society and its environment (HSIE)
  • mathematics
  • personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE)
  • science and technology.

Some primary schools may also offer languages.

NSW schools also offer special religious education and special education in ethics via approved providers, where available.

Like all NSW schools, we have developed teaching and learning programs to suit our local context and the needs of our students.

To learn more about curriculum in NSW, visit:

Stages of learning

There are 6 stages of learning from Kindergarten to Year 12. Primary school covers Early Stage 1, or Kindergarten, to the end of Stage 3.

  • Stage 1 includes Kindergarten to Year 2 (Kindergarten is referred to as Early Stage 1).
  • Stage 2 includes Years 3 and 4.
  • Stage 3 includes Years 5 and 6.

Primary school in NSW follows a curriculum based on stages of learning. Each stage is approximately equivalent to two school years. For each learning stage there are skills, knowledge and a level of understanding that each student should develop.

  • Early Stage 1 refers to Kindergarten
  • Stage 1 includes Years 1 and 2
  • Stage 2 includes Years 3 and 4
  • Stage 3 includes Years 5 and 6