MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, ARTS AND CULTURE

1 Republic of Namibia MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, arts AND CULTURE Senior Primary phase May 2020 Rationalised syllabuses for 2020 academic year only Grade 4 - 7 MINISTRY of Education, arts and CULTURE National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) Private Bag 2034 Okahandja Namibia Copyright NIED, MINISTRY of Education, arts and CULTURE 2020 Senior Primary Rationalised syllabuses for 2020 ISBN: 978-99945-89-04-3 Printed by NIED Website: Publication date: May 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Background .. 1 2. Natural Science and Health Education .. 2 3. Social Studies.

2 6 4. Elementary Agriculture .. 9 5. Mathematics .. 11 6. European Second Languages (English and Afrikaans) .. 17 7. European First Languages (English, German, Afrikaans) .. 20 8. First Languages (African) .. 22 9. Home Ecology .. 30 10. Design and Technology .. 33 11. Life Skills .. 41 Senior Primary, Rationalised syllabuses for 2020, NIED, 2020 1 1. BACKGROUND The disruption of the original School Calendar for 2020 as a result of the declaration of the State of Emergency on 17 March 2020 by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Namibia and the extended lockdown from 17th April to 5th May 2020, including the post COVID-19 measures will have an impact on the completion of syllabuses within the academic year.

3 This necessitated the need to provide guidance to schools so that learners complete the academic year for promotion to the next grades with a better foundation of knowledge, skills and values. The MINISTRY recommended the rationalisation of the curriculum to 70% of the original subject syllabuses for Pre-primary and Grades 1-9. School subjects are broadly divided into skills and content subjects although each has its own orientation. As usual, schools are therefore urged to take measures to compensate for lost time and prepare learners. The rationalised curriculum provides guidance on themes and topics on subject to be focussed on.

4 The current focus should be on the development of higher order thinking skills. It is recommended to approach teaching and learning in a holistic way. Support subjects remain critical for psycho-social and physical wellness of learners but only Life Skills are part of the rationalised exercise for the remainder of this year. Care and consideration should be taken to allow more time for teaching and learning rather than to have assessment dominance. The schemes of assessment were considered during the exercise and in most subjects, reduced. In cases of change, assessment record sheets were revised to reduce the number of assessment tasks expected.

5 The limitation is that schools use and follow different schemes of work appropriate to the local environments and background of learners. In Senior Primary some syllabuses are designed into two distinct sections. Natural Science and Health Education, for example, lay a foundation for Life Science and Physical Science while Social Studies prepare learners for both History and Geography in Junior Secondary. There is a high possibility that some schools covered a part of the one section with less critical topics/themes during the first term. It is all well, but efforts and strategies should be undertaken to cover the remaining curriculum content and skills as per guidelines.

6 Kindly be reminded that teachers should be expecting leaners that may be different from the ones they knew before the lockdown, learners who have experienced social and economic hardship and might have been exposed to violence or maltreatment due to the prolonged staying at home. Further, we should also be cognisant with the fact that to some leaners, the school is the safest place to build resilience. Therefore, learners might need extra support and teachers are required to think of strategies and activities of supporting learners psychologically, socially and academically. It is suggested that teachers need to monitor learners and identify those experiencing emotional challenges.

7 It is also important for teachers to ensure that the classrooms are flexible and the educational activities are attractive and calming in order to mitigate the psychological impact of the crisis on children. Senior Primary, Rationalised syllabuses for 2020, NIED, 2020 2 2. NATURAL SCIENCE AND HEALTH EDUCATION The topics indicated with an asterisk (*) may be regarded as the 30 % of rationalised content which can be excluded for 2020 academic year. NSHE Grade 4 NSHE Grade 5 NSHE Grade 6 NSHE Grade 7 1 HEALTH EDUCATION* 2 SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES 3 MATTER & ENVIRONMENT 4 ENERGY* 5 LIVING ORGANISMS 1 HEALTH EDUCATION* 2 SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES 3 MATTER 4 SUNLIGHT 5 WATER* 6 SOILS* 7 AIR 8 LIVING ORGANISMS 9 ENVIRONMENT* 1 SOCIAL HEALTH* 2 MATTER & FORCE 3 ELECTRICITY 4 WATER 5 MAGNETISM* 6 LIVING ORGANISMS 7 HUMAN BODY* 1 HEALTH EDUCATION* 2 SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES 3 MATTER 4 FORCES AND ENERGY 5 LIGHT 6 ELECTRICITY 7 LIVING ORGANISMS 8 HUMAN BODY* 9 ENVIRONMENT* Note: Due to this rationalisation of the content, there is also an impact on the assessment.

8 The rationalised assessment record sheets are also included to be used for 2020. The assessment record sheets are condensed into TWO terms instead of the usual three terms. Senior Primary, Rationalised syllabuses for 2020, NIED, 2020 3 Rationalised assessment record sheet to be used in 2020 for Grade 4 Natural Science and Health Education (NSHE) ASSESSMENT RECORD SHEET: NSHE Grade: .. Year: .. School: ..Teacher: .. Practical Investigation/ Project Topic Task Topic Test Term 1 + Term 2 CA Mark End of 2nd term test mark Promotion Mark Name of Learner Term 1 2 Total 1 2 Total 1 2 20 2 Total 50 + 50 [100 10]

9 8 = 80 20 80 + 20 = 100 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Mark 10 10 20 10 10 20 10 10 10 50 100 1 2&3 Senior Primary, Rationalised syllabuses for 2020, NIED, 2020 4 Rationalised assessment record sheet to be used in 2020 for Grade 5 Natural Science and Health Education (NSHE) ASSESSMENT RECORD SHEET: NSHE Grade.

10 Year: .. School: .. Teacher: .. Practical Investigation/ Project Topic Task Topic Test Term Mark Term 1 + Term 2 CA mark Exam mark Promotion Mark Name of Learner 1 2 Total 1 2 Total 1 2 Total 40 2 70 + 70 [140 140] 65 35 65 + 35 = 100 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 2 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Mark 15 15 30 10 10 20 20 20 40 2 20 70 140 65 1 2&3 Senior Primary, Rationalised syllabuses for 2020, NIED.