What is a DoE Areas of focus template?

Areas of focus templates are created by the NSW Department of Education (DoE) to support teachers in explicit teaching of a range of learning areas. Teachers can customise a DoE template based on their observations and assessment of their students' needs by creating Areas of focus. Teachers can use Areas of focus to target teaching and monitor progress in a range of learning areas and contexts.


From the Areas of focus template library

  1. Select the PLAN2 link on the ALAN homepage to open the PLAN2 application.

  2. From the menu, select ‘Areas of focus template library’.

  3. In the ‘Areas of focus template library' screen: 
    • Find a DoE template by selecting 'DoE' from the 'Created by' dropdown field

    • You can also search for a specific template by typing in a keyword in the search bar. The search will look for keywords in the template name and description, sub-element name, progression level, or syllabus outcome code.


  4. Select a DoE template from the list. Details of your selected template will be displayed on the right side of the screen.
     
  5. On the Area of focus template details, click the ‘Use template’ button. This will open the 'create new Area of focus' you can follow the steps for creating a new Area of focus.

  6. The 'Create new area of focus' screen will load. In Step 1, you will be prompted to select the student/s you want to include in your new area of focus.

  7. In Step 2 & 3, the syllabus outcomes and progression indicators included in your selected template will be copied to your new Area of focus. You can further customise your new Area of focus editing the selected syllabus outcomes or progression indicators. Templates must be customised to reflect the needs of the selected students. Remove or add indicators to make the learning focus explicit.

  8. In Step 4, review and save your new Area of focus. The Area of focus template description will be copied over to your new Area of focus. You can edit your Area of focus name and description as needed.

  9. Once saved, your newly created Area of focus can be found saved against your class and may be used to generate Class observations and linked analysis to support planning for learning.


Further information

For teaching and learning information, including professional learning, please visit the literacy and numeracy page. 


For general solutions and troubleshooting you can visit our help pages at the ALAN help desk.