St Joseph’s Primary School O’Connor are enhancing the learning of students who speak a language other than English at home with funding provided by the English Language Proficiency Program and the support of English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) consultant Jennifer Mayer. 

Since receiving the grant, Jennifer has been providing the school with an EAL/D specialist teacher to ensure continued support of staff and the 70 identified students to focus on learning progressions.

Through individualised collaborative programs, foundation students are engaged in creating an understanding of habitats with a focus on identifying plurals and conjunctions at a sentence level.

St Joseph’s Religious Education Coordinator Luke Donnolly said that self-directed learning has allowed the older students to learn research skills to define terms while focussing on the correct use of grammar in their writing.

“Students have engaged in cognitive conflict debate, they have held miscellaneous collections of notes from the office and a pile of paper from the copier to understand the word ‘miscellaneous’ and have been able to use a kaleidoscope for the first time,” he said.

Year 6 student Nishant said that the program has turned previously daunting English lessons into engaging classes where learning a vocabulary is fun and full of surprises.

Students have been able to collaborate with others and help them learn our language.

In addition to the EAL/D Program, St Joseph’s has initiated a weekly Homework Club with assistance from Merici College for St Joseph’s students, parents and teachers to engage in activities together to improve oral language.

Luke said that Homework Club has become a wonderful opportunity for building community for the school’s EAL/D families and their partnership with Merici College.