Page 5848 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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language learners in our schools. Ms Adoniou praised the ACT directorate for its leadership in taking on the new national English as an additional language/dialect teaching document to accompany each of the Australian curriculum documents. These national documents support all teachers to deliver a quality program to ESL students.
In implementing its focus on developing expertise at the school level, the directorate has realigned its central office resources. From 2012, one executive ESL will be required to provide policy and advice. This officer will be joined by a larger team of literacy and numeracy officers within the learning and teaching branch. This approach has allowed the directorate to shift the additional central office resource to the school level, moving resources from the education central office out into schools, putting in more teacher time at the chalkboard or, these days, at the electronic whiteboard. Is this not what we should be doing?
In preparation for this realignment, the directorate has developed an ESL action plan with—
Members interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Hargreaves): Order, members! Mr Doszpot, Mr Coe, Dr Bourke heard you in silence. I expect you to extend to him the same courtesy.
DR BOURKE: In preparation for this realignment, the directorate has developed an ESL action plan with three strategic priorities. Staff are trained, qualified and well supported. Students are supported to access high quality programs. Policy and procedures are futures focused and accountable. The ESL manual on policy has been updated and a comprehensive procedural manual, which will support students in all aspects of their ESL program, has been written. Both documents will be in place for the 2012 school year and provide greater clarity of process and procedure across the directorate.
Another large body of work undertaken this year has been the finalisation of the professional learning resources to update ESL programs, in particular resources to support teachers working with students with refugee backgrounds. 2012 will see the directorate piloting a refugee support program that is a partnership between the University of Canberra and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. As mentioned, classroom teachers and ESL teachers are having their needs met through the in-school model of support, system-endorsed professional learning courses and central office forums and will continue to do so next year. The Education and Training Directorate recognises the importance of supporting every student to receive a high quality education in an environment that is respectful of students’ different cultures, experience and learning needs.
The initiatives, resources and budget allocations I have outlined to the Assembly today leave me confident and proud that ACT public education is a leader in the provision of support to ESL students.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (4.31): I move the amendment circulated in my name to Dr Bourke’s proposed amendment:
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