The aim of this research was to assess the extent of curriculum development from 1976 to 1979 in six Catholic Secondary Schools. The schools, all having less than 400 students, are located in four towns in a single Diocese in northern New South Wales. The project set out to ascertain the type and extent of development through study of the schools' timetables. The analytical instrument employed was a Curriculum Notation developed by T I Davies in 1969. Additional data was obtained from interviews of school principals. It was hypothesised, largely because of the schools' autonomy and increasing proportion of lay teachers, that the timetables of the six schools would indicate organisational changes brought about by school based curriculum initiatives and community involvement. The analyses indicate that the hypothesis is substantiated but in a very limited way. None of the schools showed substantial evidence of curriculum development in their timetables. Two schools indicated significant progress in the development of school community relationships. The little evidence of change noted from the study suggests that the increasing number of lay staff has had little or no bearing on curriculum development in schools and the incentive and influence of Federal funding has not been a potent force in curriculum development in the sample schools. Indicating as it does that there has been very little organizational change in the sample schools over the period 1976 to 1979, the study suggests that these Catholic Secondary Schools are 'conservative' in both outlook and operation.