The state-wide community consultations is the first comprehensive review of the whole school curriculum since 1989.

Dubbo’s meeting was the eighth of the total 15 consultations, which will take five weeks to complete.

Leading the review for the NSW Education Standards Authority is Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of the Australian Council for Educational Research.

After the community consultations wrap up and the online submission closes all of the feedback will be considered and Professor Masters will come up with recommendations.

Professor Master said they are interested in hearing the views of the all communities about the NSW curriculum.

Some of the general themes that have come from the consultations has been just how much is expected of schools these days.

Other common themes has included vocational pathways for students, the HSC and the ATAR.

“What people are saying to us so far is school needs to not just be preparing people for work, that’s an important aspect, but it needs to be preparing people for life as well,” Professor Masters said.

“So giving them the understandings and the skills to be citizens, to take their place in society. It’s important we develop people with not just knowledge but also various kinds of attributes..."

Professor Masters said they want students to learn throughout their life.

“We want to maintain young children’s innate curiosity and eagerness to learn,” he said.

Some of the changes communities would like to see changed in the curriculum is a greater focus on the whole child.

“We want well-rounded individuals. People are arguing there needs to be some change, maybe less content covered int he curriculum. They do want something to be thinking about our current senior secondary arrangements and the way the ATAR appears to  dominate everything in the senior years of school,” he said.

“There’s an openness to change.”

The recommendations should be finished by April 2019, after the which the public will have the chance to make further comment.