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Education programs across Australia

Western Australia

Curriculum and pedagogy

• Curriculum Framework
• Time for Talk
• Journey of Healing
• WA's Other History
• Deadly Ways to Learn
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Bandscales
• LOTE2000
• Curriculum Improvement Program (CIP)
• English as a Second Language (ESL)/Multicultural Resource Centre
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs
• Solid English
• Staying Healthy Curriculum Resource
• Early Literacy and Numeracy (ELAN) Program
• Framework for the Teaching of Aboriginal Languages in Primary Schools
• Towards Reconciliation

Curriculum Framework

The Curriculum Framework is used by all schools to develop and implement their own curriculum according to the needs and characteristics of their students. The Framework establishes common educational outcomes expected of all students from Kindergarten to Year 12. The Framework provides for the valuing and inclusion of all groups of students by:

• specifying a wide and empowering set of outcomes for students to achieve
• providing a basis for programs that challenge all students and offering all groups of students opportunities to achieve these outcomes
• recognising and valuing the different knowledge and experience of different groups of students, and
• taking into account the diversity among children and young adults in Western Australia including gender, languages spoken, culture, socio-economic background and geographic location.

Time for Talk

A resource to assist schools in implementing culturally sensitive teaching strategies in the development of oral language in the early years of schooling.

Aboriginal Studies K-10 Curriculum

Aboriginal Studies is the study of past and present Aboriginal societies, and includes their histories and cultures. It is studied in a context which promotes respect for the integrity of all people and places, with an emphasis on understanding spiritual, political, social and economic issues central to Aboriginal societies and their relevance to the total population.

Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Aboriginal Languages Programs

The Aboriginal Languages Programs are designed to give young people the skills and understandings to communicate effectively and appropriately in a language other than English (LOTE). Aboriginal Languages are an integral and unique part of Australia's linguistic heritage and their inclusion in the school curriculum recognises and supports the diversity of Australian Languages.

WA Government Schools Reconciliation Strategy

The Education Department is focusing on the development of initiatives aimed at making schools welcoming and culturally inclusive sites for Aboriginal students, their families and Aboriginal community members. The strategy comprises four major strands:

• Reconciliation through partnership
• Reconciliation through two-way consultation
• Reconciliation through teaching and learning
• Reconciliation through our people.

Journey of Healing

The Education Department of Western Australia acknowledges the past policies and practices of forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and is committed to help overcome its debilitating effects. Sorry Day provides schools with the opportunity to hold a commemoration ceremony. By holding such a ceremony schools acknowledge the past and demonstrate their sincerity and commitment to overcome racism.

WA's Other History

A resource published by the Western Australian Advisory Committee on Reconciliation and Australians for Reconciliation (WA). The book recognises what has gone before and a celebration of what will be achieved if we work together, recognising and respecting differences in life-style and values.

Deadly Ways to Learn

This is a Commonwealth funded action research project which seeks to explore curriculum responses which affirm the parity of esteem between Aboriginal English and Standard Australian English.

English as a Second Language (ESL) Bandscales

The bandscales provide a progress map of literacy development for teachers to use when working with students for whom English is a second language. The bandscales alert teachers to the differing cultural and linguistic heritages that ESL students bring to the learning of Standard Australian English and accommodate the fact that students of different ages have different needs and strengths with respect to second language acquisition.

LOTE2000

The LOTE2000 strategy will see all students in Years 3-10 in WA Government schools studying a language other than English by 2002. The strategy recognises the need to support young people to develop the skills, attitudes and understandings necessary to enable them to participate in a wide range of intellectual, social, physical and cultural activities and contribute in a practical way to the WA community.

The priority languages supported are: Aboriginal languages, Chinese (Modern Standard), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.

Teacher training programs such as Intensive Language Courses and Languages other than English (LOTE) Methodology courses are offered to ensure an adequate supply of quality teachers. Scholarships are available to enable teachers to gain experience in the country of the language they teach.

Curriculum Improvement Program (CIP)

The Curriculum Improvement Program is the major strategic initiative relating to the first objective in the Plan for Government School Education 1998-2000, that is, the establishment of an outcomes and standards-based approach to curriculum in all government schools. The plan states that each school's curriculum will be consistent with a Statewide Curriculum Framework which sets out what students are expected to know and be able to do at different stages of their schooling.

The nature of the curriculum change and implementation towards an outcomes-based approach to teaching and learning recognises that all children are different and that their capacity to learn varies.

English as a Second Language (ESL)/Multicultural Resource Centre

This centre provides resources and information services that support ESL and culturally inclusive education programs.

English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs

ESL Programs include:

• Intensive Language Centres (ILCs) which provide specialist intensive English language instruction for new arrival students. Students are prepared for mainstream classes.
• Support Programs designed to meet the needs of Stage 2 ESL students within a mainstream context across all subject areas.
• Cell Programs which provide support for Stage 2 ESL students enrolled within three or four neighbouring primary schools and the feeder secondary schools.
• ESL Curriculum Support Officers Aboriginal and ESL officers advise and assist school and district office personnel, with the preparation and implementation of programs appropriate to the needs of ESL students; liaise with families and agencies on needs and placement of newly arrived ESL; provide information and advice to parents and students regarding the school system; assist ESL personnel to establish professional networks.

Solid English

The Solid English materials are a distillation of sensitive and extensive research into the language and learning of Aboriginal students in Western Australian schools.

Staying Healthy Curriculum Resource

The Staying Healthy Curriculum Resource was developed as a joint initiative with the Health Department of Western Australia to improve the delivery of health education programs to schools attended predominantly by Aboriginal students.

Early Literacy and Numeracy (ELAN) Program

The Early Literacy and Numeracy (ELAN) Program aims to improve the literacy and numeracy skills and understandings of Aboriginal students in pre-primary to Year 4 through early intervention.

Framework for the Teaching of Aboriginal Languages in Primary Schools

The Framework for the Teaching of Aboriginal Languages in primary schools has been designed to provide a curriculum document which meets the needs of schools, addresses the large variety of Aboriginal languages in Western Australia and acknowledges the desire of Aboriginal people for languages of their heritage to be taught in schools. It is intended to be a support for teachers in schools where the local Aboriginal community wishes to teach its language(s) through the primary school. The document does not include language-specific materials and is dependent on the local community to provide language and cultural information and the specialists who are able to teach the language.

Towards Reconciliation

These curriculum materials have been developed by the National Co-ordinators of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education (NATSIEP) and distributed to all government schools in Western Australia. The resources promote Reconciliation and are used by schools particularly during National Reconciliation Week.