 Well the first set of year 11 and 12 curriculum for the Australian curriculum have now been released. English, Mathematics, Science and History. Four English courses, four Mathematics courses, four Science courses and two History courses. After quite substantial consultation we put out a first draft for the first set and on the basis of comments back revised them, put them back out for another consultation and have now produced these final versions and they're now about to be taken to the next stage. These are car of senior secondary curricula will now fit into quite varied state arrangements. In each of the states there are authorities that run the assessment systems with external exams or other means that provide the reports to students on their performance and provide the certification arrangements and these have to fit into that. They can't disrupt that, you can't expect states to run parallel arrangements. So they'll actually provide a common and agreed basis now for states working out what to do with them and a car is going to work bilaterally with each of the states to determine the ways in which these new curricula will be integrated into courses in the states and we're committed to reporting back to ministers at the end of 2013 on the progress towards that integration and timelines for adoption of courses in the states because at the senior secondary level there are quite strong rules about how much notice has to be given to students coming through years 9, years 10 about what they will face in 11 and 12. So the first step on an important but long process. A real strength for me is that the curriculum gives us the opportunity to enable students to learn in environments that where excellence and equity are valued and the curriculum also develops in students the ability to learn and learning how to learn. These are framed then in the content that's provided and the skills and knowledge particular to the learning area of mathematics. Teachers and educators now have to make this vision a reality. I think the biggest strength is looking right across the country looking at all the different maths topics and the little differences that occurred between states and actually making that best choice of what's the best mathematics for all the students. Well one of the strengths I think is that we're going to end up in a situation where what everyone is basically teaching in common anyway is going to be articulated and presented so that every student and teacher in every state is going to have parity in terms of what they're being presented. It doesn't preclude each state from offering alternatives of certain areas of the maths curriculum that they have traditionally enjoyed teaching and studying but for me the strength is the fact that you're going to have six states, two territories, eight jurisdictions having a common curriculum that they're going to be working off. The benefits for teachers are that the curriculum documents are the basis from which teachers can make decisions about learning and teaching responsive to the needs of the students. For teachers these need to be made collaboratively and we've got a real opportunity to share resources and ideas on a national level. Teachers haven't worked or had an opportunity to work this way before and this is really an exciting opportunity. I think the biggest benefit is to get all teachers across the country having the same language so it's so much easier to share the really good ideas. I've gone to conferences in the past and had to debate do I go to that Victorian session on computer algebra systems because it doesn't quite relate to me and it'll be really good to be able to share and just have better resources particularly for some of the smaller states like Northern Territory being able to pick up resources from the whole country. Well one of the benefits I really think is that we're going to become better learners. The best sort of teacher is the one who's still learning and if you've been teaching the same thing you've got a really good idea of what it's about but the real benefit of this is you're going to have new things that you're going to have to learn and I reckon that's going to renew your passion. I reckon that's going to make you understand better how the students are learning because you're going to have to learn yourself and I actually think it's going to be a really nice recharge and refreshment for many teachers across Australia as we all encounter the new things that are different from what we're doing now that will actually really help us become fresher and better teachers for our students. The senior secondary mathematics curriculum is all about student choice. In the suite of subjects students can choose a subject that's going to assist them with employment and working in everyday situations so that functional aspect of mathematics. Other subjects will offer students the foundation to go on to further studies and specialties in mathematics and mathematics learning. But irrespective of the opportunities and the subject that students take the focus is on ensuring that students see the power and beauty of mathematics and learning these engaging ways enhanced with technology so they're going to be the winners out of all of this. I think the benefit for students is if they're looking at going into state for universities there's a consistency for them so that they're sitting in a lecture theatre and they've done the same maths as everyone else and they don't all of a sudden feel panicky because they might have to do some extra research at home which will have would have happened in the past and of course the other benefit is if everyone's better resourced because there's more sharing across the country then it must come resulting better outcomes for students.