School background and setting
A New Arrivals Program (NAP) at an English language school is a specialised and unique environment as the NAP provides an intensive, English language program for newly arrived ESL students, refugees and migrants, from over 50 countries at any given time. Curriculum design and programs cater for the intensive needs of current students, the majority of whom have had little or no prior schooling, sometimes at an advanced age. A major focus is on assisting in the resettlement process for students and their families, or in many cases, minors without families.
Many ESL new arrivals are refugees and asylum seekers who have endured experiences of extreme torture and trauma prior to their arrival in Australia; and all refugees have experienced to a degree, emotional and psychological trauma by virtue of the fact that they have been dislocated from their countries of origin. This may manifest in a number of different ways in the classroom, from total non-responsiveness and non-engagement to acting-out behaviours (for example, self-harm, regression, violence), to mistrust and resentment towards authority figures, to an inability to concentrate, to disengagement from class work and non-deliverance of assignments or homework tasks. There might be other factors (for example, information or communication about bombings, sinking of refugee boats, war victims, bad news or no news from their homelands about the fates of family members and friends, detentions, etc) that will exacerbate these behaviours. These experiences impact on students’ general learning and their learning of English in Australian classrooms.
The English language school operates on five campuses and provides instructions to P-10 Primary and secondary students. The total number of new arrivals is between 400 and 500, with teaching and non-teaching staff numbering over 100. There is also very high staff turnover due to fluctuating numbers of new arrivals, dependent on global circumstances, such as wars, persecution and naturally occurring events.
The school population also fluctuates constantly – students enrol almost daily throughout the year as visas are processed or people are released from detention centres. Due to the nature of the DEECD process, students stay for a maximum of two terms so there are exits at the end of each term. These students participate in a highly structured and orchestrated transition to a mainstream school, to minimise further trauma and stress.
ESL new arrivals follow a pathway of development in learning English that is different from students for whom English is their first language. They do not speak English in the home as a first language and are entitled to an ESL report for the first five years of schooling (or as long as it takes), from the date they start school in Australia. It takes between 5 – 7 years to become proficient in English, if the student is ESL.
Teachers teach the language and vocabulary of English in two terms to prepare students for transition to mainstream schooling. Class sizes are small (maximum 13). The program is designed to maximise English language acquisition, connect students to school, wider community and to be culturally inclusive. It has an integrated approach to curriculum design and programming, incorporating a major focus on social skills and Values education.
New arrival students at the language school are exempt from National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), English and Maths Online tests, (P – 2 do participate in English Online in the NAP), English and Maths-Adaptive On-demand Testing and other tests currently used in mainstream schools.
Students with interrupted schooling, or little or no English, face the overwhelming task of acquiring English before transition to a mainstream setting. The NAP is a short, intensive program. ESL new arrivals must acquire social communication skills, speaking and listening, reading and writing skills, while attempting to catch up to native speaking peers who themselves are continuing to develop academic and language competence, in an integrated learning community.
The thinking domain is integral to the ESL Companion to the VELS and e5 Instructional Model (DEECD, Teachers connecting with e5, 2010). ESL new arrivals could benefit from an introduction to the language of thinking before transition to the mainstream setting, as they are often further disadvantaged by not having any knowledge of the English language of the thinking dimensions or thinking skills.
Many ESL new arrivals are refugees and asylum seekers who have endured experiences of extreme torture and trauma prior to their arrival in Australia; and all refugees have experienced to a degree, emotional and psychological trauma by virtue of the fact that they have been dislocated from their countries of origin. This may manifest in a number of different ways in the classroom, from total non-responsiveness and non-engagement to acting-out behaviours (for example, self-harm, regression, violence), to mistrust and resentment towards authority figures, to an inability to concentrate, to disengagement from class work and non-deliverance of assignments or homework tasks. There might be other factors (for example, information or communication about bombings, sinking of refugee boats, war victims, bad news or no news from their homelands about the fates of family members and friends, detentions, etc) that will exacerbate these behaviours. These experiences impact on students’ general learning and their learning of English in Australian classrooms.
The English language school operates on five campuses and provides instructions to P-10 Primary and secondary students. The total number of new arrivals is between 400 and 500, with teaching and non-teaching staff numbering over 100. There is also very high staff turnover due to fluctuating numbers of new arrivals, dependent on global circumstances, such as wars, persecution and naturally occurring events.
The school population also fluctuates constantly – students enrol almost daily throughout the year as visas are processed or people are released from detention centres. Due to the nature of the DEECD process, students stay for a maximum of two terms so there are exits at the end of each term. These students participate in a highly structured and orchestrated transition to a mainstream school, to minimise further trauma and stress.
ESL new arrivals follow a pathway of development in learning English that is different from students for whom English is their first language. They do not speak English in the home as a first language and are entitled to an ESL report for the first five years of schooling (or as long as it takes), from the date they start school in Australia. It takes between 5 – 7 years to become proficient in English, if the student is ESL.
Teachers teach the language and vocabulary of English in two terms to prepare students for transition to mainstream schooling. Class sizes are small (maximum 13). The program is designed to maximise English language acquisition, connect students to school, wider community and to be culturally inclusive. It has an integrated approach to curriculum design and programming, incorporating a major focus on social skills and Values education.
New arrival students at the language school are exempt from National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), English and Maths Online tests, (P – 2 do participate in English Online in the NAP), English and Maths-Adaptive On-demand Testing and other tests currently used in mainstream schools.
Students with interrupted schooling, or little or no English, face the overwhelming task of acquiring English before transition to a mainstream setting. The NAP is a short, intensive program. ESL new arrivals must acquire social communication skills, speaking and listening, reading and writing skills, while attempting to catch up to native speaking peers who themselves are continuing to develop academic and language competence, in an integrated learning community.
The thinking domain is integral to the ESL Companion to the VELS and e5 Instructional Model (DEECD, Teachers connecting with e5, 2010). ESL new arrivals could benefit from an introduction to the language of thinking before transition to the mainstream setting, as they are often further disadvantaged by not having any knowledge of the English language of the thinking dimensions or thinking skills.