NSW education authorities have unveiled the new English and maths syllabuses for the state's youngest school students, describing them as a "major milestone" and a "game changer".
The changes follow a sweeping review of the NSW school curriculum, the first in more than 30 years, which was highly critical of the content taught in schools and recommended an overhaul.
The first curriculum changes being rolled out are for students in the crucial first years of schooling, from kindergarten to year 2, with the following years to follow.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet described the changes as a "new approach".
"[It] will ensure our youngest learners are provided with a solid foundation to grow from, with a focus on literacy and numeracy skills," Mr Perrottet said.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, said for the first time the curriculum was completely online for teachers, with clear examples.
"I think this is just a game changer when it comes to how we get those basics right when it comes to our littlest learners," Ms Mitchell said.
"We know that we need to follow the evidence base and we know we want to see improvements in students' outcomes in NSW.
"So, having really explicit focus on things like phonics to help them learn to read, sentence structures, handwriting, understanding maths concepts from an early age, it really sets the foundation for all other learning."
She said having the curriculum documents online made them more easily accessible.
"We've developed this with teachers, for teachers,' she said.
"This is all about removing any ambiguity for teachers, it comes with explicit teaching advice on an online platform, there will be professional development to support it as well.
"The feedback we've had from teachers who've seen this new platform is that it's brilliant and I think it will make a real difference in students outcomes, which is all we want to see."
Implementation of the new curriculum will begin next year, with all NSW schools teaching the updated syllabuses from 2023.
Curriculum changes for all the other school years will follow.
"We're working through every other year group and every other subject area," Ms Mitchell said.
"We've started with English and mathematics in the early years because we recognise those skills as the foundation for all other learning. We'll continue our work to deliver the entire updated curriculum by 2024."
