Our head teacher support document assists non-languages trained head teachers and executive who supervise teachers of languages. We've just completed an update for 2022, and the document now includes advice for both classical and modern languages.

We think the document is also essential reading for all language teachers 7-12 in NSW public schools.

The document provides comprehensive advice on:

• - the place of languages in the NSW curriculum
• - resourcing and advocacy
• - programs and pathways 7-12
• - K-10 curriculum structure
• - assessment and reporting
• - Stage 6 courses and eligibility requirements
• - where to access support.


• Feedback from our 2021 version said “This is an excellent document which is a must-read by any prospective language teacher. It gives comprehensive information about language teaching provisions in NSW schools. It highlights the benefits of learning a language and where to learn it. It gives the requires links to all aspect of HSC languages. Bravo!”
  

We have also advertised the support document in Staff Noticeboard, if you would prefer to let your supervising head teacher know through that channel.

You can find the document on our Support for head teachers page.

Results update as at 19.05.21 – there have been some changes!
What are you passionate about in regards to language learning and teaching?
89.5% say "engaging classroom activities and resources"
86.8% say "student enjoyment and satisfaction of learning a language"

What are your main sources of inspiration?
71.1% say "informal sharing with colleagues"
​65.8% say "social media"

What topics would you be most interested in learning more about? 
81.6% say more support for 7-10 (assessment and programming)
65.8% say "student engagement in language learning" 

The Languages and Culture team is excited to announce that we are currently developing innovative support in implementing curriculum 7-12 with a focus on quality teaching and programming in languages. The support will be published on our curriculum website.

The support focuses on you – the language teacher, and we need your voices to be heard. The survey is easy – just the 3 questions listed at the start of this post. We'd like at least 100 responses to ensure our data is a fair representation of all your teaching contexts.

The suite of support will include video interviews and podcasts with practising teachers, sharing their expertise and experiences in their chosen field of interest.

As always, we want to provide you with better-tailored support and want to know what inspires you to be the best language teacher you can be. What are you most passionate about in language teaching and learning?
 
Your feedback is important to us. Please take this 2-minute survey to help shape our support and content. Alternatively, go to the QR code to access the survey. Take this amazing journey with us and have your say!

The Languages and Culture team is thrilled to announce the launch of our 2 new videos: Literacy in languages and Numeracy in languages.

These short (approximately 7 minutes each) videos unpack the importance of these critical general capabilities within the context of the Languages KLA. 

Each video includes Stage-appropriate examples for explicitly teaching each skill, in order to support students' literacy and numeracy development.

Thank you to our 'actors' – Brindha Punneyalingam, Will Simpson and Julia Zhu, as well as the incredible students at Baulkham Hills High School and Kirrawee High School.

To view the videos, click on 'Learning across the curriculum' at the top of our Stages 4 and 5 landing page, and then scroll to the relevant heading. 

We hope you enjoy watching them as much as we enjoyed making them.

In Term 4, the Languages and Culture team is delivering Assessment and reporting in 7-10 – new languages syllabuses workshops.
 
The workshops are for language teachers of Stages 4 and 5 from NSW public schools, and are NESA registered for 5 hours. They will be delivered through Microsoft Teams.
 
This course leads you through the changes you'll need to make to assessment and reporting in order to align with the new K-10 syllabuses.
 
There are 4 workshops planned for Term 4:

• Monday 26 October
• Friday 6 November
• Thursday 12 November
• Tuesday 24 November.

More events, both through Teams and face-to-face workshops, will be available in 2021.

The learning intentions of the course are:
- understand the difference between assessment as, for and of learning, and a task-based approach to assessment of learning
- understand the Common Grade Scale and the newly released Course Performance Descriptors for languages and understand their application in determining student achievement of course outcomes
- explore sample marking guidelines and draft marking guidelines differentiated across 5 grades (A-E) for one task
- write quality assessment tasks and design marking criteria that clearly describe student achievement
- understand how to report on student achievement in line with the new syllabus and tailored for the school context.
 
Enrol via MyPL, course code RG09900. Places are limited.

Welcome to Term 4. We hope everyone had a relaxing break – most likely the first genuine break many of you have had all year! We’ve been busy taking the holiday period to add more content to our website, and even though we’ve been updating the blog and our virtual statewide staffroom in Yammer, we’re actually hoping you weren’t reading anything because you were so busy relaxing! So here it is again – all in one place, just in case you missed it.

Class party unit – Stage 4
Just in time for Term 4, we have developed a generic 10-week Stage 4 party unit. The unit has been especially designed to support you in differentiating and adjusting teaching, learning and assessment activities to support a range of students. You can find the unit on the Stages 4 and 5 section of our website, or we also added it to each of the language-specific Stages 4 and 5 pages.

Stage 4 Indonesian – Dining with Indonesian friends!
We have just published a unit starter (unit of work) and matching assessment task on "Dining out with Indonesian friends!", and updated the Stage 4 scope and sequence to align with these new resources.
The unit starter is fully resourced with everything you need to pick up and teach!
Access our support via the Stages 4 and 5 Indonesian page.

Stage 5 – new sample scope and sequences
New Stage 5 sample scope and sequences for Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Modern Greek and Spanish are now live. The Arabic sample is for students with prior learning and/or experience, so is a good example to view if you have this learner group in Stage 5.

Online collaboration – professional learning module (TIPD)
This TIPD module has been developed by teachers, for teachers. Set aside approximately 45 minutes to read the content and complete the reflection questions.
The module supports you to:

• - select relevant online collaboration tools to support syllabus outcomes in the languages classroom
• - connect students to other language learners
• - connect with teaching colleagues to enhance language learning opportunities and outcomes through collaboration.

It can be accessed from our professional learning page.
​
We're on YouTube!
Languages NSW has set up a new YouTube channel, with recordings of our past statewide staff meetings, including:

• - our top 10 favourite assessment tasks
• - language learning games
• - blended learning
• - assessment for learning.

Please subscribe – we will add more recordings each year.

In Term 4, the Languages and Culture team is delivering Assessment and reporting in 7-10 – new languages syllabuses workshops.
 
The workshops are for language teachers of Stages 4 and 5 in NSW public schools, and are NESA registered for 5 hours. 
 
This workshop leads language teachers through the changes they will need to make to assessment and reporting in order to align with the new K-10 syllabuses.
 
There are 4 workshops planned for Term 4:

• Monday 26 October
• Friday 6 November
• Thursday 12 November
• Tuesday 24 November.

Full details, including enrolment details will be published Week 1, Term 4.​

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Languages and Culture team is postponing all Term 1 workshops, with the exception of Wollongong (18 March).

New dates for the Term 1 venues will be published later in the year.

At this stage, Term 2 events are proceeding as planned.

​A reminder, tomorrow's Wollongong event is still going ahead.