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Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA) Annual General Meeting

ACTA is holding its annual general meeting on Thursday 18 April, 7pm. Please contact the ACTA secretary if you wish to participate.

Email: Secretary@tesol.org.au

Website: http://www.tesol.org.au/About-ACTA/ACTA-Meetings

ACTA is the national coordinating body for all associations of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) across Australia. Membership of ACTA comes automatically through membership of one of its constituent associations.

All members of TESOL associations are welcome to attend the AGM.

ACTA is made up of councillors from each state and territory association. Councillors, need to be nominated by state and territory TESOL associations. Only TESOL association councillors or their designated proxies are entitled to vote at the AGM.

ACTA Objectives

  • to represent and support the interests of teachers of English to speakers of other languages and dialects and their students
  • to ensure access to appropriate English language instruction for speakers of other languages and dialects
  • to encourage implementation and delivery of quality professional programs at all levels
  • to promote study, research and development of TESOL at local, regional, national and international levels.

Please click here for further information.

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VicTESOL Holiday Dates

Please be advised that the VicTESOL office is closed from COB on Friday 21 December until Monday 21 January.  We will respond to emails as soon as possible once we return to work after this holiday period.  

VicTESOL Annual General Meeting

Thursday, 6 December, 2018
5.30 – 8pm

LMERC
Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre
Level 1, CO.AS.IT Building, 189 Faraday St, Carlton VIC 3053 

5.30 – 6.00pm  Launch of Teaching & Learning Cycle website
6.00 – 6.30pm  VicTESOL AGM
6.30 – 7.00pm  Guest speaker
7.00 – 8.00pm  Canapés and drinks

Contact:

VicTESOL Association Officer
Email: victesol [at] victesol.vic.edu.au

  • Please contact the VicTESOL Association Officer to RSVP or for further details. 
  • Completed VicTESOL Nomination Forms & Proxy Forms must be emailed to the VicTESOL Association Officer by 5pm on the 29 November, 2018.

Download (PDF, 1.55MB)

Download (PDF, 1.4MB)

Download (PDF, 1.33MB)

 

British Council ELTons Awards

Applications are now open for the 17th British Council ELTons Awards for Innovation in English language teaching!

The British Council is, once again, looking for the latest and most innovative resources to learn and teach English, across the full breadth of media (non-digital or digital) and from a wide variety of contexts worldwide.  If you, your colleagues, or someone in your network, has been involved in the production of new and original courses, publications, projects, apps, platforms and more in support of high quality English language education in the last two years, we trust this opportunity would be of interest.

The ELTons’ call for applications are now open for entries across five award categories, including for courses, teacher and learner resources, for digital innovation and for local innovation.

The deadline for submission is Friday 2 November, 23:59 (UK time).
Click here for further information or email ELTons@britishcouncil.org.

Victorian Curriculum F–10: English as an Additional Language consultation

VicTESOL is in the process of drafting an EAL Curriculum consultation response. If interested in providing feedback to VicTESOL on the proposed EAL Curriculum for its consultation response please email to victesol@victesol.vic.edu.au   by Wed June 13th.

Principals/Directors, Generalist primary and secondary teachers (Foundation to Year 10), English Language School Teachers, Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teachers and School leadership teams

Main points

A new English as an Additional Language (EAL) curriculum is due to be released in August 2018.

To support the release of this new curriculum, the VCAA is seeking feedback from schools, learning centres and other stakeholder bodies and organisations that have students with learning needs associated with EAL.

The consultation package will include the proposed:

  • rationale and aims
  • structure
  • content descriptions and achievement standards.

It will also include an outline of the additional materials and implementation support to be offered by the VCAA.

The consultation is an opportunity to give feedback and ensure the necessary information and support is provided for familiarisation and implementation.

Subject to sectoral agreement, implementation in Victorian government and Catholic schools will occur in 2020. Schools would have the option to implement in 2019. The same process has been followed for the implementation of all other areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

Action required

Principals/Directors should:

  • consider whether they wish to respond to the consultation (schools, learning centres and other stakeholder bodies and organisations may elect to provide a single response).

Critical dates

Friday 1 June 2018 – consultation opens

Friday 15 June 2018 – consultation closes

Additional information

The full suite of consultation documents will be available on Friday 1 June 2018 on the EAL webpage.

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VicTESOL AGM 2017 President’s Report – Anne Keary

I would like to thank the committee for their enthusiasm, interest, commitment and work throughout the year for VicTESOL and the broader EAL community of educators and students. Without their ideas and input the extensive program of activities VicTESOL has undertaken in 2017 would not have occurred.

Thanks goes to Julia Lippold, Kristy Collins and Freya Dos-Santos who have indicated that they will step down from the committee as of the AGM. We thank Julia for her contribution in the VCE EAL area, Kristy around communications and Freya for her contribution to the adult subcommittee. We wish them well for the future and hope they will be able to take up committee membership in the future

Special thanks to the executive – Shem, April and Mark who have shared their ideas and given much of their valuable time throughout the year in providing support to the undertakings of VicTESOL. They have instigated and sustained a range of initiatives and activities that have added to VicTESOL’s achievements throughout 2017.

Much appreciation goes to April who has indicated that she will step down from the role of secretary. April has shown much initiative especially in the area of making links with Indigenous Education groups. Her energy and enthusiasm will be missed. However, April will still be a valued member of the general committee.

Sub-committees

Professional Learning
The past year has been very active for the association in a range of ways.

VicTESOL has worked hard to provide an extensive and comprehensive Professional Learning program. Thanks goes to the Professional Learning coordinator, Catherine McClymont, who has professionally and proficiently organised a range of Professional Learning activities across the Early Childhood, schools, VCE EAL and adult sectors. Also thanks to the Professional Learning subcommittee led by Michelle Andrews.

All Professional Learning activities have been well attended and received positive feedback. In 2018, we will continue to develop the Professional Learning program and aim to broaden our partnerships across the sectors so as to provide a relevant and current Professional Learning agenda. We will continue to develop a funding partnership with the Department of Education and Training (DET).

A key Professional Learning activity worth noting was one which was co-hosted with La Trobe University in November. Patsy Lightbown, an internationally renowned teacher and researcher in the field spoke of TESOL theory and practice from the past which is still very relevant in current times. Special thanks to Shem Macdonald for organising this event.

Symposium
The highlight of VicTESOL’s Professional Learning calendar in 2017 was the one-day symposium at the Bastow Institute for Educational Leadership in August. The keynotes addresses presented by Associate Professor Jane Wilkinson (Monash University) and Dr Jenny Barnett (University of South Australia) stimulated us all in our thinking around community responses to EAL learners and who we are as professional EAL teachers.

Thank you to all the presenters who shared their practices and ideas. The presentations inspired discussion and had us questioning our current professional knowledge and practices. Special thanks to the VicTESOL subcommittee who supported the planning and operational aspects of the event.

Communications
Thanks to Jessie and the communications subcommittee who have put together the e-bulletin during the year and promoted VicTESOL activities through the VicTESOL website, facebook and twitter. A new VicTESOL brochure was designed and is now being distributed. We look forward to further developments in the communications area in 2018.

Adult Sector
VicTESOL has had an active adult sector subcommittee this year. We look forward to their ongoing support and ideas in 2018.

VCE EAL
VCE EAL is a priority area for VicTESOL. A number of activities are planned for early 2018. VicTESOL will continue to host twilight sessions for this group of TESOL educators to encourage networking and the sharing of resources.

Membership and Policy
Thanks goes to the membership and policy subcommittee who have worked tirelessly throughout the year. A healthy and active membership is crucial to the ongoing work of VicTESOL. It assists us to improve and consolidate our service. Therefore, I encourage you to consider membership at an individual level and at an institutional level for your organisation. Membership provides you with the opportunity to have a voice in the EAL community and advocate for the needs of educators and learners. Being a VicTESOL member provides you access to EAL networks and professional learning activities. It is a means of professional as well as personal enrichment.

Research Grant

Alan Williams will talk more about the VicTESOL research grant which was instigated in 2016. We would like to congratulate the successful applicants. Our thanks go to Shem Macdonald, Alan Williams, and Mark Melican for adjudicating the research grant process.

VicTESOL would also like to acknowledge the research work of Katrina Tour and Maria Gindidis (Monash University) who in partnership with Blackburn English Language School have created a website based on their work into ‘transmedia’.

ACTA

VicTESOL has worked closely with the national body ACTA (Australian Council of TESOL associations) throughout the year. ACTA has been very active in the area of advocacy including writing submission for:

  • Inquiry into Migrant Settlement (May 2017)
  • Supplementary submission to the Inquiry into Migrant Settlement
  • Proposed English language proficiency test for citizenship
  • Productivity Commissions Inquiry on the National Education Evidence Base
  • Review to Achieve Education Excellence in Australian Schools (Gonski review) (Nov 2017)

In 2018, Margaret Corrigan (Committee Member) will be taking on the convener role of the ACTA adult sector committee.

In October 2018, ACTA International conference will be conducted in Adelaide. The call for papers is open. Please see the ACTA website for further information. VicTESOL is providing four scholarships for the conference for vicTESOL members who will be presenting at the conference.

 

Administration Officer

Jack Madin has completed his fourth year in the role of Association Officer and has indicated he will continue in 2018. Jack is the face of VicTESOL and keeps the organisation on track – managing memberships, professional learning activity registrations, communicating with subcommittees and members and working closely with the executive and the PL coordinator.

We value his knowledge of VicTESOL processes and practices, and his competence in managing the numerous tasks which come his way. In 2017 he has assisted VicTESOL to become a virtual association.

VicTESOL

VicTESOL is an avenue to connect with the broader TESOL field and the community in general. It provides up to data information about activities and events and is a means for sharing what’s happening in the EAL field at a state level. Finally, VicTESOL would like to thank its membership for their ongoing support. The strength of any association is with its membership base.

Anne Keary, President VicTESOL 2017