Blog Archives

New K-10 syllabuses for Hindi, Macedonian, Persian, Punjabi and Tamil

16/9/2019

The new Hindi, Macedonian, Persian, Punjabi and Tamil K–10 syllabuses and Course Performance Descriptors are now available on the NESA website. The syllabuses are available to download as PDF and Word documents.
Schools will begin implementing the new syllabuses from Term 1 2020. Additional advice about implementation is available on the syllabus pages.
For more information, contact:
Melissa Gould-Drakeley
Inspector, Languages
Melissa.Gould-Drakeley@nesa.nsw.edu.au
(02) 9367 8152

Registrations open for the Hunter Head Teacher network meeting – 24 October 2019

16/9/2019

Registrations are open for substantive and relieving Head Teachers subscribed to the Hunter Head Teacher learning network to attend the Hunter Head Teacher Professional Learning network meeting. One language teacher from each school may also attend.

Date: Thursday 24 October
Time: 9am-3pm
Venue: Kurri Kurri TAFE – Hunter Valley Hotel Academy McLeod Road, Kurri Kurri NSW 2327

To register, please refer to the attached agenda.

Registrations close at 5pm, 26 September 2019.

For further information, please contact Rebeca Tamas.

ht_network_agenda.docx
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Amanda Singh recognised as one of our state's best teachers

12/9/2019

One of our LANG Professional Learning Leaders and network leaders has been recognised as one of the state’s best teachers.

23 teachers across the state were awarded with the highest levels of accreditation at a prestigious ceremony in Sydney earlier this week, including Amanda Singh from The Ponds High School.

Member for Riverstone Kevin Conolly said the awards recognise highly effective, innovative and exemplary teaching practice.

Amanda has been recognised as a Highly Accomplished Teacher. She is one of 15 teachers to have achieved this level of accreditation in NSW this year.

“Mrs Singh really represents the cream of the crop; she has gone above and beyond the daily demands of the job to achieve excellence in her profession,” Mr Conolly said.

“Mrs Singh is using her expertise to lift the prospects of the children in our community, and I am proud and thankful for the work she is doing for our school system.”

“I want to congratulate Mrs Singh on her achievements and thank her for the work she does in our school system”.

Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said that teachers who achieve this level of accreditation are invaluable assets for their school communities as teaching experts, mentors and leaders.

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Amanda!

(Adapted from the department's media release, 11.09.19)

Stage 6 school-based assessment in languages – professional learning

9/9/2019

The Languages and Culture team is offering Stage 6 school-based assessment in languages professional learning, NESA accredited for 2.5 hours.

This course builds teachers’ capacity to understand and apply mandatory Stage 6 school-based assessment in languages. It unpacks NESA’s current school-based assessment requirements including examples of best practices. Provision of sample tasks based on syllabus outcomes, combined with collaborative discussions, support teachers in developing their own non-exam based assessment tasks.

This course will enable participants to:
- understand the requirements of school-based assessment in Stage 6 Beginners, Continuers and Extension language courses
- implement a range of assessment strategies in Stage 6 Beginners, Continuers and Extension language courses
- design an effective assessment task for Stage 6 Beginners, Continuers and Extension language courses.

There are 4 components that will need to be completed in order to receive the registered hours of professional learning:
- pre-task – identifying and demonstrating the mandatory weightings and components of assessment tasks, which will be emailed to you one week prior to the workshop participation in
- webinar/workshop – developing an understanding of the legislative and syllabus requirements
- post-task – designing an effective assessment task to be used with their Stage 6 language class(es) which will be assessed using the post-task marking criteria
-the post-event evaluation.

You may select to attend any of the following sessions:
- Thursday 17 October – 4:00-6:00pm - Sydney CBD
- Saturday 30 November – 2:00-4:00pm - Parramatta
- Tuesday 3 December – 3:30-5:30pm – Adobe session

To enrol, browse for course code RG04979 and select the session you wish to attend.

The course is for NSW public school teachers only.

For further information, please email Evia Kyriacou or call on 9244 5573.

Newcastle and Hunter Language Teacher Network – Term 3 meeting

9/9/2019

The Language Teacher Network – Newcastle and Hunter will hold its Term 3 meeting on Thursday 12 September. The meeting will contribute 1 hour of Teacher Identified hours towards maintaining proficient accreditation.

The focus of the meeting will be on:
- assessment with the new syllabus
- multimodal tasks and assessment rubric
- Last Word film competition
- Hunter Network update and connecting schools
- Hunter HT day update
- teach swap.

All language teachers living and/or working in the area are welcome to attend.

Date: Thursday 12 September 2019
Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Venue: Maitland Grossman High School
Enrol: Course code NR18042
Session name: Hunter Network Meeting Maitland Grossman High

For further information please contact Coreena Allen.

New resources to support syllabus implementation in Stage 4

4/9/2019

The Languages and Culture team has published new resources to support teachers of Stage 4 in implementing the new syllabuses.

All our resources are housed on our website: education.nsw.gov.au/languages

We have published the following resources.

French

- Stage 4 scope and sequence
- Stage 4 sample assessment task
- Sample assessment schedule
- Stage 4 unit starter

Japanese

- Stage 4 scope and sequence
- Stage 4 sample assessment task
- Sample assessment schedule
- Stage 4 unit starter

Korean

- Stage 4 scope and sequence
- Sample assessment schedule

Spanish

- Stage 4 scope and sequence
- Sample assessment schedule

Remember, all K-10 language syllabuses (2017 and later) are underpinned by the Languages K-10 Framework so it's worth looking at materials for all languages, not just the one/s you teach.

We also have sample unit of work templates, programming guidelines and a planning tool available on our Stages 4 and 5 landing page, under the heading 'Programming'.

Our support continues and we will add more materials as they become available.

Reminder – consultation for Chinese/Japanese/Korean in Context draft syllabuses ends 8 September

3/9/2019

The consultation for Chinese/Japanese/Korean in Context draft syllabuses ends 8 September (this Sunday).

NESA is seeking feedback on the Performance Band Descriptors on the following matters:

- Is outcome 6.2 covered in the PBD or is it better represented in the suggested changes in pink on the attached document?
- Does dot point 4 of the PBD align clearly to the outcomes?

NESA appreciates your feedback so have your say and complete the survey online or submit a written response to:
- Belinda Munro-Laylim for Japanese and Korean in Context
- Gianna Pagni for Chinese in Context.

language_in_context_performance_band_descriptions_september_2019.docx
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A language faculty for every teacher 7-12 in NSW public schools – is that even possible?

3/9/2019

We would LOVE it if every teacher had a Languages faculty at their school, to share ideas/resources and collaboratively plan and problem solve, but unfortunately most of us teach in isolation – as the only language teacher at our school, or the only teacher of our particular language.

That's why we've created the Languages NSW (7-12) group on Yammer – our virtual staffroom. We currently have almost 300 language teachers as part of this virtual faculty, seeking and finding advice on areas such as:
- If the new syllabuses require all tasks to be authentic, what's the place of yearly examinations?
- What professional learning is currently available?
- How do organise a trip interstate with students?
- How do I approach subject selection night at my school?

Never used Yammer before? That's ok - just download our easy "how-to" guide and you're just a couple of clicks away from having colleagues at our fingertips.

yammer-howto.docx
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A new direction for our statewide Adobe Connect sessions

3/9/2019

So...we've been listening to feedback from you guys (thank you!!) and we're going to change the direction of our statewide Adobe Connect sessions each term. For the next 2 terms, we're going to trial running short (approximately 10 minute) professional learning sessions.
To kick off, we're thinking: Our top 10 favourite assessment task

What else would you like to hear about? How to assess outcome 1C and/or outcome 3C? Best ways to provide feedback to students? We'd love you to decide!

Add your ideas as comments.

Professional learning for language teachers in primary schools in Term 4 2019 – registrations now open

2/9/2019

Course name: Languages syllabuses implementation for K-6 teachers

MyPL code: RG05461

Tuesday October 22 – Fairfield
Thursday October 24 – Sydney CBD
Tuesday October 29 – Parramatta
Thursday October 31 – Bankstown
Tuesday December 3 – Homebush
Thursday December 5 – Wollongong

Language teachers from rural and remote areas who need assistance with accommodation and travel, please contact COR0507R5663.primlang@det.nsw.edu.au.
If you have any questions about the course or sessions, please contact COR0507R5663.primlang@det.nsw.edu.au.