Modifications to NESA syllabuses
NESA may approve modifications to part of a NESA syllabus for use in a particular school as it considers necessary to enable any part of a key learning area, that appears to NESA to be incompatible with the educational philosophy or religious outlook of a registered non-government school, to be based on and taught compatibly with that educational philosophy or religious outlook.
Where a school considers that one or more of the outcomes of a NESA syllabus are incompatible with the school's educational philosophy or religious outlook for part of the school's curriculum, the school may apply to NESA to use modified outcomes for that part of the syllabus.
A school may be granted approval for the use of modified outcomes for part of a syllabus if NESA is satisfied that:
- the identified NESA outcome(s) are incompatible with the educational philosophy and/or religious outlook of the school
- the proposed modified outcome(s) are compatible with the educational philosophy and/or religious outlook of the school
- the proposed modified outcome(s) comply with the curriculum guidelines developed by NESA.
Evidence of capacity to comply
If the proposed non-government school intends to apply to NESA to modify an outcome(s) of a NESA syllabus due to incompatibility with the proposed school's educational philosophy or religious outlook, additional documentation must be provided that includes:
- the specific NESA syllabus outcome(s) that is proposed to be modified
- the philosophical or religious reasons for proposing to modify the identified NESA syllabus outcome(s)
- the proposed modified educational outcome(s)
- how the identified NESA outcome(s) would be incompatible with the educational philosophy and/or religious outlook of the proposed school
- how the proposed modified outcome(s) are compatible with the educational philosophy and/or religious outlook of the proposed school
- how the proposed modified outcome(s) will be appropriate for potential students with respect to their level of achievement and needs
- how the proposed modified outcome(s) will comply with the curriculum guidelines developed by NESA and approved by the Minister
- an overview of the proposed school's educational program indicating where the modified outcome(s) approved by NESA would occur in relation to the scope and sequence of learning/units of work referred to in the primary and secondary sections above
- an assessment plan indicating how student achievement of any proposed modified outcome(s) would be assessed, monitored and recorded.
Modifications approved under this provision are not permitted to the curriculum for the Record of School Achievement or Higher School Certificate.
In the event that NESA is unable to approve a modification because of an inconsistency between the modification sought and the curriculum guidelines, a review of that aspect of the curriculum guidelines may be requested.