Typing in the NSW English Syllabus: Stage by Stage

If you want to know what your child's school is meant to teach about keyboards, the NSW English K-10 syllabus (2022) is the place to look. It does not have a separate typing course. Instead, keyboard skills sit inside writing, in a strand about handwriting and digital transcription, and they grow stage by stage. Here is a plain-language tour based on the syllabus pages we read on 19 October 2026. The wording belongs to the NSW Education Standards Authority, so check the pages themselves for the full text, which changes from time to time.

Early Stage 1: Kindergarten

The Early Stage 1 handwriting outcome is about producing upper-case and lower-case letters. The same page includes complementary content for students who cannot produce handwriting, which is relevant to families whose children use a keyboard instead. Examples include locating letters on a keyboard, using a touch screen or stylus to select letters, and creating letters through whichever of those, or a keyboard, suits the child. There is also a point on speech-to-text applications.

In plain terms, Kindergarten is about familiarity: where are the letters, and how do I make one appear?

Stage 1: Years 1 and 2

The Stage 1 outcome, coded EN1-HANDW-01, pairs a clear, fluent, automatic handwriting style with digital tools such as word processors for creating texts. Content points include using keys to show more complex punctuation, using word-processing functions, and, notably, typing up to 5 familiar words per minute.

That is the only numeric typing figure we found in the syllabus. It is slow on purpose. For a seven-year-old the aim is accurate typing of words they know, not speed.

Stage 2: Years 3 and 4

Stage 2 is where keyboard skills become explicit. Under the outcome EN2-HANDW-02, students use digital technologies to create texts, and the content includes:

• applying what they know of the layout and function keys when typing;
• positioning a chosen device so that text creation is efficient and sustained; and
• tracking their own goals for accuracy and rate.

For parents, this suggests Years 3 and 4 are a natural time to introduce a structured approach, because the syllabus now expects children to know the layout and to track their own progress.

Stage 3: Years 5 and 6

By Stage 3, outcome EN3-HANDW-02 asks students to select digital technologies to suit audience and purpose. The typing content includes moving around the keyboard quickly and correctly when typing words, numerals, punctuation and other characters, understanding that the position of the device affects posture and glare, monitoring typing accuracy and rate against goals, and using taught shortcut functions on digital tools.

A table of the stages

What the syllabus does not say

It is just as useful to know what is absent. The pages we read do not use the phrase "touch typing", do not set a speed for Stage 2 or Stage 3, and do not say how schools should timetable keyboard practice. Schools decide how to teach these outcomes, so the amount of explicit typing instruction will vary from school to school. A parent who wants to know can ask the class teacher what the school does.

How can you tell what your child's school actually does?

A short conversation is the most reliable route. Useful questions for a class teacher include: how often do students use keyboards in class, is there a set keyboarding programme or is it taught as part of writing, which devices do students use, and what goals do students set for accuracy? Answers vary between schools, and a teacher may also be able to tell you whether your child is using a laptop, a tablet or a shared computer. That helps you match practice at home to what they meet at school.

What about NAPLAN?

Parents sometimes assume the online NAPLAN test requires fast typing. The NSW Government's parent page says touch typing is not required and the online test does not measure keyboard skill. Typing skills still help with everyday school writing, but the test itself does not demand them. For more on this question see how fast should a child type.

How to use this at home

You can also support the posture points mentioned in Stages 2 and 3 by checking chair height and screen position. Our guide on what age to start touch typing covers how to match practice to your child's stage.

A calm next step

XType is a family typing course made of staged lessons that teach finger by finger, with a junior track for Kindergarten to Year 2. We do not say it follows the syllabus point by point, only that its stages build in the same order: find the keys, type words, then build accuracy and speed. Our own plan is a 7-day free trial, then A$9.99 a month or A$99.90 a year, cancel any time, and a no-cost 30-second test is open on the home page.