How does Fix it! align with the NSW English K–10 Syllabus?
Updated: Sep 4
When I developed Fix it!, I wasn’t trying to create a resource that covered every aspect of sentence-level grammar.
I wanted to provide students with structured, purposeful practice with some of the foundational sentence knowledge they need, while carefully managing the reading demands of that practice.
With Packs 1–4 now complete, I’ve started mapping the Fix it! progression against curriculum requirements, beginning with the NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022) and its sentence-level grammar and punctuation content from Kindergarten to Year 2.
The question I wanted to answer was fairly simple:
Where does the sentence work students are doing with Fix it! actually sit within the curriculum?
Where is the strongest alignment?
The strongest alignment in the early Fix it! packs is around the development of the simple sentence.
In Kindergarten, students are expected to understand that a simple sentence makes sense by itself and represents a complete thought through a subject and verb. They also begin identifying and using verbs and constructing sentences using subject–verb–object structure.
This sits closely alongside the beginning of the Fix it! progression:
Pack 1: Subject + Action Verb
Pack 2: Subject + Action Verb + Object
Pack 3: Subject + Action Verb + Where (+ When)
Pack 4: Subject + Verb Group + Description
The progression is deliberate.
Packs 1–4 sit within the first two parts of the broader Fix it! sentence progression: building the simple sentence, then expanding it. Later packs move into connecting ideas, embedding information, manipulating sentence structures and, ultimately, making deliberate sentence choices.
Students aren’t expected to manage all of this at once. Each stage builds on sentence knowledge established earlier.
By Pack 3, students are adding information about where and when. This connects with Stage 1 work involving prepositional phrases.
Pack 4 begins to develop description and verb groups, including work with relating verbs and description within noun groups. These are also represented within Stage 1 sentence-level grammar.
Rather than introducing multiple sentence structures at once, the packs provide repeated practice while gradually increasing what students are being asked to notice and manage.
Alignment doesn’t mean covering everything
This was an important part of creating the curriculum map.
Fix it! Packs 1–4 don’t cover every sentence-level expectation in Kindergarten to Year 2, and they’re not intended to.
Some content sits later in the Fix it! progression.
For example, the Stage 1 syllabus includes writing and recognising compound sentences. This is planned for Pack 5 rather than being squeezed into the first four packs.
Complex sentences also appear within Stage 1 syllabus content, but explicit instruction in these structures comes later in the Fix it! progression.
And there are syllabus expectations that Fix it! simply isn’t designed to teach.
I think that’s an important distinction when we talk about curriculum alignment.
A resource doesn’t need to cover an entire syllabus to have a clear and useful place within it.
For me, alignment means being transparent about what a resource teaches, where that learning sits within the broader curriculum, and what still needs to be taught elsewhere.
Where does the Teacher Supplement fit?
The game itself gives students repeated opportunities to read, recognise and work with sentence structures.
But ultimately, we want students to be able to use that knowledge in their own writing.
That’s where the Teacher Supplement extends the cards.
For example, the Build → Say → Write activity moves students from working with the sentence structures in the game towards constructing and writing sentences themselves.
Other activities provide opportunities to add information to sentences and experiment with different sentence types and punctuation.
Playing Fix it! isn’t the end point.
The goal is for the sentence knowledge students practise during the game to become knowledge they can increasingly draw on when they communicate their own ideas in writing.
So, where do Packs 1–4 fit?
I see Packs 1–4 as targeted practice within a much broader sentence-level curriculum.
They provide repeated practice with selected foundational knowledge, including complete sentences and fragments, subjects and verbs, subject–verb–object structure, action and relating verbs, noun groups, prepositional phrases and basic sentence punctuation.
Importantly, students need much more than this to become proficient writers.
Fix it! isn’t intended to replace explicit instruction, rich oral language, reading, vocabulary development or opportunities to create meaningful texts. It is intended to sit alongside these things.
See the full alignment
I’ve put together a detailed curriculum alignment map showing where Packs 1–4 directly align with the NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022), where the Teacher
Supplement provides additional practice, where there is related alignment, and which content comes later in the Fix it! progression.
Teaching outside NSW?
I’d love to hear from educators elsewhere in Australia and in New Zealand.
If you’d like to see Fix it! mapped against your curriculum, get in touch and let me know where you’re teaching.
About the Author
Jess Manton
Hi, I’m Jess — a literacy therapist, former teacher, and passionate advocate for inclusive education. With over 18 years of experience, my mission is to create a safe and supportive space where every child (and their parents) feels seen, heard, and empowered through literacy.
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