News

Statewide staff meeting - interacting in languages

1/2/2023

On Monday 13 February, the Languages and Culture team will be presenting the first statewide staff meeting for 2023. The focus will be on the Interacting focus area of the new Modern Languages K-10 syllabus. The session will be presented by Professor Florencia Henshaw.
Attached, please find an infographic summarising the role of interacting in the new syllabus.
To enrol, please go to MyPL and search for course code NR29242, then select the session Languages statewide staff meeting - Term 1 2023 (remember, if you have attended a SWS meeting before, it will say 'Completed'. Ignore that and click on the course, then select the upcoming meeting by clicking the circle next to its name. Then click the red 'Re-enrol' button at the top of the screen.)
Course code: NR29242
Session name: Languages statewide staff meeting - Term 1, 2023
Date: Monday 13 February
Time: 4-5 pm
Venue: MS Teams – the link to the meeting will be emailed to you with your enrolment confirmation from MyPL.

Everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!

The main session will be recorded for anyone who cannot make it, and we will also share our slide deck.

For more information, please contact evia.kyriacou@det.nsw.edu.au

Access and navigate the new languages K-10 digital syllabuses – how-to videos

31/1/2023

The Languages and Culture team has created 2 videos showing you how to access the new Modern Languages K-10 Syllabus and the Classical Languages K-10 Syllabus.
The syllabuses are presented in digital format on the new NSW Curriculum website, so we hope you find these videos useful to help you navigate and discover some of their features.
How to access the Modern Languages K-10 syllabus
How to access the Classical Languages K-10 syllabus

Seeking curriculum resource writers

27/1/2023

The Languages and Culture team is seeking expressions of interest from language teachers 7-10 to develop resources with the Languages and Culture team over 6 days in 2023. The resources will be designed to support teachers in understanding and using the new Modern Languages K-10 Syllabus.

The successful applicants will work closely with our team members to develop:
- a 3-year scope and sequence (100 hours, plus 200 hour elective)

- 2 units of work, with matching assessment tasks (one for the 100 hours, one for Year 9 or for Year 10)
- student resources, where required.

Each successful applicant will be provided with 6 days’ relief to complete the work. As such, principal endorsement is required. Dates will be negotiated but will be partly or fully consecutive.
If you are interested in this wonderful opportunity to extend yourself, network with others and support staff across the state, please see the Staff Noticeboard. Writer EOIs with principal endorsement are due on 24 February 2023 to Renetta Wolfe.
To find out more, please join us at the information session on Monday 20 February 2023 at 3:30 pm.

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New Modern Languages K-10 Syllabus – what's exciting?

12/12/2022

As we head towards the end of the year, ready for a well-deserved break, we wanted to acknowledge that NESA’s release of a new Modern Languages K-10 Syllabus (2022) might be feeling a little overwhelming to some of you. Our reality is that we have just got our heads around the current K-10 syllabuses, which are still relatively new.

We wanted to reassure you that:

- the new syllabus is a simpler, more supportive document
- our teams will provide comprehensive support throughout 2023, to support you with your planning, ready to start implementation in 2024.

The primary and secondary languages teams at the department have had a look through the syllabus and our initial reaction is ... genuine excitement! There is a lot to like about this new syllabus, and we thought we’d share with you some of the aspects we feel most excited about.

Please read the infographic attached, and maybe even print it off for your staffroom wall, so that when you come back after the January holidays, you can start sharing a little of that excitement too.

Language network leader EOI 2023

8/12/2022

Language teacher networks support language teachers in NSW schools. The networks are K-12 and cross-sectoral and run with financial assistance from the Department of Education (Curriculum Secondary Learners Directorate). Crucial to networks are the network leaders who support language teachers in regions across the state.
We are looking for network leaders to join the project in 2023. If you are interested, teach at a NSW public central or secondary school and would like to know more, please watch the recording and see the attached PDF.
If you would like to apply, please read the EOI application, complete and submit by Friday 16 December 2022 to Evia Kyriacou. Please note the EOI needs to be signed by your principal so please don't leave it until the last minute.
If you have any questions please contact Evia Kyriacou or Coreena Allen for further information.

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Languages K-10 syllabuses – familiarisation and planning eCourse

1/12/2022

With NESA's recent release of the Modern Languages K-10 Syllabus, we will be archiving our Languages K-10 syllabuses – familiarisation and planning eCourse, which is designed for the current language-specific K-10 syllabuses.

In 2023, to support you with planning and preparing for teaching with the new syllabus from 2024, we will be designing new professional learning.

You can access the new syllabus via the NSW curriculum website.

Some key information for you:

1. In 2023, teachers familiarise themselves with the syllabus, and plan and prepare for implementation of the curriculum.
2. In 2024, implementation commences in schools, with:
- - K-6
- - mandatory 100 hour courses
- - new 100 and 200 hour elective courses (note - classes which commence a 100 hour or 200 hour elective course in 2023 should continue to use the existing language-specific syllabus until the end of 2024).
3. NESA will be releasing 4 languages syllabuses as part of curriculum reform - Aboriginal Languages K-10, Classical Languages K-10, Modern Languages K-10 and Auslan K-10 (for release in 2023, with the same implementation timeline as the other languages syllabuses).
The release of these new syllabuses is not designed to impact the language(s) offered in each school.
- In K-6, languages continue to not be mandatory. As such, schools are not required to introduce a languages program in response to this or any other new languages syllabus. However, primary schools which do run languages programs are required to use the relevant syllabus.
- In 7-10, students continue to learn one language over one continuous 12-month period, preferably in Years 7-8 (‘the mandatory 100 hours’).

Much of the department's support will be rolled out via our MS Teams spaces. If you teach at a NSW public school and are not yet a member, please join up.
- For K-6 teachers, join the Primary Languages Networks.
- For 7-12 teachers, join the Languages statewide staffroom.

Statewide staff meeting recording now available

25/11/2022

Thank you to the 51 teachers who joined us for the live statewide staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon, when we explored 'Stage 6 Beginners and Continuers speaking skills'. For those who weren't able to make it, the recording is now live on our YouTube channel and the slide deck is attached.
If you would like to explore non-HSC style tasks a little further, you can complete our eCourse – Stage 6 school-based assessment in languages, MyPL code AC00014.
You can also visit our Stage 6 resources in the HSC hub.

Term 4 Primary Languages Networks meetings

2/11/2022

In Term 4, primary languages teachers are invited to join one of 8 network meetings.

Enrol in a meeting through MyPL using the course code NR36349. You will need to then select the session or meeting that is relevant for you.

South Asian Languages – 14 November 2022 – Girraween PS
Vietnamese – 16 November 2022 – Lansvale PS
Greek – 18 November 2022 – Earlwood PS
Chinese – 23 November 2022 – Hurstville PS
Italian – 24 November 2022 – Five Dock PS
Arabic – 29 November 2022 – Auburn West PS
Community Languages – 30 November 2022 – Curran PS
Korean – 30 November 2022 – Campsie PS

All primary language teachers in department schools are encouraged to join the Primary Languages Network on MS Teams by completing this short entry survey. You will find more information about the meetings in the team. It should take 4 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions about the meetings, please contact the primary languages team at primlang@det.nsw.edu.au

Differentiation and inclusion

5/9/2022

A big part of differentiation is equity, in which students are provided with the right learning experiences for their needs. This is different to equality, in which all students have access to the same resources.

This got us thinking about inclusive education and inclusion in languages. Inclusive education means that all students can access and fully participate in learning, alongside their similar-aged peers, supported by reasonable adjustments and teaching strategies tailored to meet their individual needs.

Classroom culture influences our thoughts, perceptions, behaviours and how we treat others. Language classrooms have a unique role in understanding other cultures and perspectives, developing communication skills that promote understanding and empathy for others. We are also in the unique position that our content often requires students to share information about the personal worlds, so it’s even more important we provide safe places for them to do so.

Attached please find our differentiation infographic (updated to include the importance of being responsive, as part of ongoing formative assessment) and an inclusion infographic for your classroom, to remind students about the importance of inclusion.

Embedding Aboriginal pedagogies in language teaching – support document

5/9/2022

The Languages and Culture team and the primary languages team have joined forces to develop the new Embedding Aboriginal pedagogies in language teaching document. This resource supports language teachers K-12 to embed Aboriginal perspectives in their teaching practice, while maintaining the focus on core curriculum content.Aboriginal perspectives are found in Aboriginal processes, rather than in Aboriginal content.

This resource was developed with support from the department’s Aboriginal Educational and Wellbeing Officers. It unpacks each of the 8 Aboriginal ways of learning within the context of language learning, including how to align each process with languages pedagogy and suggestions for communicating with students about each process.

You can find the Embedding Aboriginal pedagogies in language teaching document on both the Early Stage 1 to Stage 3 page, and also on the Learning across the curriculum page of the languages website.

Support for Early Stage 1-3 includes:

- sample Stage 3 lesson sequence with Aboriginal pedagogies – eating at a restaurant
- Stage 3 learning map – eating at a restaurant.

Support for Stages 4-5 includes:

- Stage 5 generic unit on food trucks – highlighting where Aboriginal processes are embedded into teaching and learning activities to help identify these connections in your own units of work
- Stage 5 learning map – food trucks.