On Wednesday, we presented our first statewide staff meeting for 2021. Thank you to those teachers who joined us live for the session on "Making adjustments for students with disability", presented by Marina Laing (Principal Project Officer, Diversity at NESA). For those who weren't able to make it, the recording is now live on our YouTube channel and the slide deck is attached. 

Making adjustments ensures students with disability can access and participate in our lessons on the same basis as students without a disability.
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Our first statewide staff meeting for 2021 will take place in on Wednesday 17 February. It will be presented by guest speaker Marina Laing, (Principal Project Officer, Diversity – NESA) and will focus on supporting students with disability. 

• Enrolment details are on MyPL.
• - Course name: Languages statewide staff meeting
• - Session: Languages statewide staff meeting – Week 4, Term 1, 2021
• - Time: 4:00-5:00 pm
• - Enrol by: 17 February, 4:00 pm
• - Platform: Microsoft Teams

The link to the meeting will be sent to you with your enrolment confirmation from MyPL. Please enrol prior to the event to ensure you receive the link in time.
 
Everyone is welcome! Can’t make the live session?
The link to the recording will be posted on the Languages NSW blog and our statewide staffroom.

For further information, contact Evia Kyriacou. 

NESA announced today that outstanding eligibility determinations for Year 11 and 12 Languages students are due by 12 March 2021.
You can find resources to help principals make determinations on their website, including:
- case studies
- eligibility criteria
- forms. 

The HSC oral examinations for languages are taking place across a range of venues, face-to-face. Student Confirmation Sheets, with details of venues, are available on Students Online.
A small number of students who do not have a face-to-face venue available to them will be examined online.
If you have any questions regarding the oral examinations, please contact the Language Support Team at NESA on (02) 9367 8065 or via email.

We are circulating this information on behalf of our colleagues at NESA, who have received a number of inquiries this year regarding Languages Life Skills courses in Stage 6.
· Schools with eligible students can develop a School Developed Board Endorsed Course for a Stage 6 Life Skills course in any language.
· Applications for these courses are submitted to NESA via Schools Online. Applications should be submitted by the end of Term 1 in the year before the course is planned to commence.
· Objectives, outcomes and modules are pre-filled in the application form. Schools determine the topics they will deliver (in relation to the modules provided), and the content that will be taught in each topic (suggested content is provided in supporting documentation attached to the application form).
· The objectives and outcomes within the application are based on the Stage 6 Beginners Languages courses.
· Once endorsed, the course can be delivered by the school and count as 2 units towards a student’s pattern of study.
Further inquiries from schools can be directed to Marina Laing or Melissa Gould-Drakeley.

NESA has updated all Stage 6 course descriptions – they are now available on the NESA website.
 
Course descriptions are helpful for students making subject selections. 

The 2020 HSC written exam and updated oral language exam timetables are now available on the NESA website.

What’s changed?
The written and oral exam timetables will each start a few days later than originally planned to give students more face to face time with their teachers to revise, ask questions and seek support in the lead up to exams:

• Written exams will start on 20 October and finish on 11 November
• Similarly, the oral language exams will start on 15 August and finish on 19 September

Results will be released on 18 December.

MLTA members are invited to the webinar Unpacking the NESA K-10 languages syllabuses presented by Melissa Gould-Drakeley (Inspector Languages at NESA).

​It will be held on Wednesday 6 May from 4-5:30pm.
Please register by 3pm on the day of the webinar.

Please note this is a repeat of the webinar facilitated last term for those who were not able to participate. You will not be able to gain registered hours for it twice. 

Registered participants will be sent the webinar link prior to the webinar (please ensure your email address is entered correctly). 

We are aware that many of you have questions concerning the HSC oral examinations for 2020. We encourage you to forward your questions and concerns to NESA, who facilitate these exams.

Through communicating directly to NESA, they will be aware of the types of concerns you have, as well as how many of you have these concerns.

For any questions related to COVID (including oral exams or school-based speaking assessments), email/call the COVID hotline covid19support@nesa.nsw.edu.au or call 1300 138 323.