Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages

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Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Family& Staff Bulletin
                                                                                                             N.4, 4 October 2021

                                                 Welcome to Term 4
                        As we start Term 4 we continue to face some uncertainty. What is not uncertain, however, is the dedication
                        of our teachers and the professional way they have adapted their teaching styles and keep supporting
                        their students.

                         The pandemic has shown our community how essential our schools are, not just to students and families,
                         but to our society as a whole. Prior to 2020 I attended several technology conferences where the technology
                         disciples predicted the demise of schools (and teachers) and their replacement by the latest whizz-bang
                         technology and online programs. This is no longer the case. As Deputy Secretary Dr David Howes has
                         pointed out, there is now a greater appreciation of the work done by teachers, by students, parents and
the community. We are now clear that the purpose of schools is to support both the learning and wellbeing of students - and these
two priorities are interrelated. The compelling
evidence demonstrates the positive role that
schools provide in mental and physical health.

Similar sentiments are expressed by the
Governor of Victoria, the Hon Linda Dessau
AC, who as our Patron-in-Chief, on 23 August
sent us her message of support and her hopes
that we will see better days.

Our classes, especially our senior classes,
are now heading towards the assessment
and examination period. Year 12 students will
return to school to sit for their oral and written
examinations, and then they need to wait until
Thursday 16 December to obtain their results.
We wish them all the best.

Our 2022 enrolments will open on 11 October
for students currently enrolled in VSL classes
and new enrolments will commence two
weeks’ later. As the demand for student places
is greater than the number of classes we are
funded for, we urge all parents to complete the
enrolment as early as possible.

In conclusion, on behalf of the school, I wish
to congratulate all of our students for their
perseverance in the face of interruptions,
thank the teachers for their enthusiasm and
creativity, and the parents for your support and
encouragement of the children.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe end to
the school year and we hope that everything
returns to normal in 2022.

Frank Merlino,
Principal

                                                                                                            N.4, 4 October 2021 | Page 1
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Implementing a healthy school environment when students return to school
     The principles for maintaining a COVIDSafe school apply to all Victorian schools. We require all students, teachers
     and parents to be familiar with the details and to abide by them so that everyone is safe and we reduce the risk of
     COVID-19 transmission within our school environment.

     On 19 September the Government unveiled Victoria’s COVID-19 road
     map. In relation to schools, the two main points were:
     • Year 12 VCE students will return to school to sit for the General
     Assessment Task (GAT) on 5 October and return to onsite learning
     the next day;
     • There will be a staggered return to schools by all other year levels as
     from 18 October.
     • Everything going well, all students will be back for onsite learning
     from Friday 5 November.

     A key factor that will determine the return to school arrangements
     will be when the vaccination rate will reach 70% and 80%. As the
                                                                                 Heading to the hand sanitisers!
     Minister for Education stated on 20 September, “For now, I just want
     to urge every teacher, principal, school staff member, parent, carer
     and student over 12 – go and get vaccinated. That’s our fastest way         Face masks in schools
     out of this.”                                                               • School staff and secondary school students aged 12 or older must
                                                                                 always wear a face mask indoors and outdoors at school, unless a
     The arrangements for the classes of the Victorian School of Languages
                                                                                 lawful exception applies.
     may be different so we will inform our school community as soon as
     they are confirmed.                                                         • It is recommended that children under 12 years of age and students
                                                                                 at primary school wear face masks when at school.
     The Victorian Curricumulm and Assessment Authority has put in
                                                                                 • Staff must wear face masks while teaching wherever practicable,
     place clear arrangements for VCE students to sit for the GAT, oral
                                                                                 except where removal of a face mask is necessary for effective
     exams and written exams. The measures include the wearing of
                                                                                 communication.
     masks, density requirements of one student per 4 square metres, and
     maximum ventilation.                                                        • The Department is providing a new allocation of single use disposable
                                                                                 masks to all schools for Term 4.
     On-site supervision when schools resume                                     • The Department will provide air purification devices to schools from
     • When on-site teaching resumes, hand sanitiser will be available at        the start of Term 4.
     the entry points to classrooms and reminders will be made on hand
                                                                                 QR codes and record keeping
     hygiene.
                                                                                 • The use of Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record keeping
     • Physical distancing will be implemented in classrooms to the extent
                                                                                 is mandatory in all schools to enable the effective contact tracing of
     feasible, and unwell students will be excluded from attending.
                                                                                 any COVID-19 cases.
     • If some schools are closed because of infection, students from those
                                                                                 • QR code check ins are required to be used by all essential visitors
     schools will not be allowed to attend VSL classes for the duration of
                                                                                 on school site and all parents who enter school buildings for essential
     the closure.
                                                                                 purposes.
     • Surfaces (desks, tables, etc) are to be kept clean - COVIDSafe
     routine cleaning arrangements will continue in Term 4.                      Reinforcing COVIDSafe behaviours
                                                                                 • Students and staff should continue to be vigilant and remain home
     Staff and student vaccinations                                              if unwell.
     • As part of the coronavirus vaccination roll-out, all school staff and     • Everyone must practise regular hand hygiene.
     all students aged 16 and over are eligible to receive a coronavirus
                                                                                 • Physical distancing (1.5m) is to be observed.
     (COVID-19) vaccine.
                                                                                 • Face masks must be worn.
     • On 22 September the Victorian Chief Health Officer determined that
     vaccination will be mandatory for all staff who work in schools.            • Interactions in enclosed spaces are to be avoided.

                                                                                 Thank you to everyone for your contribution in keeping our school
                                                                                 safe.

Page 2 | N.4, 4 October 2021
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
VSL contribution to Education Department services
The school’s priority is to offer Language classes (over 50 Languages) to school-aged students from Foundation to
VCE across metropolitan and regional Victoria. It does this through its multi-campuses (Centres) and its Distance
Education section. In addition, the VSL provides a range of services to the Victorian education system as a whole.
Here are some examples:
DET Regional and Rural VCE Expansion initiative                             teachers. A pilot project was undertaken and found to be successful.
The initiative is part of the Department’s goal of providing all students   However, additional funding arrangements need to be found to cover
in regional and rural Victoria with the choice of studying any of the       the cost of the VSL Distance teachers and the cost of the teacher
VCE subjects available. The VSL has been funded to develop and              supervising the classes in the regional school(s).
delivery 3 new Virtual Learning (Distance Education) language
subjects, namely Hindi, Punjabi and Vietnamese 2nd Language, and            “VET Delivered to Secondary Students” (VDSS) for Languages
to update the other existing Virtual Year 11 VCE languages.                 As a Registered Training Organization the VSL has been auspicing
                                                                            vocational education courses in Languages since 2014. The VDSS
Currently, VCE Hindi Units 1-4, Punjabi Units 1-2, and Vietnamese
                                                                            support (formerly known as VETinSchools) is offered to schools to
SL Units 1-2 are available for study. Updates have focussed on five
                                                                            deliver Certificates II and III in Applied Languages to students ranging
teaching practice areas: Student collaboration, Student feedback,
                                                                            from Year 9 to Year 12. The current languages include Chinese,
Student readiness and Parent engagement. Furthermore, Chinese
                                                                            Indonesian, Greek, Spanish and Japanese. Other languages may be
SL/SLA is in development in a new online format.
                                                                            added by arrangement.
Teaching “English as an Additional Language” (EAL) to students
in regional Victoria.                                                       The certificate courses are available to students who would like to
                                                                            formally complete Language studies at the senior secondary level,
The EAL program is part of the Government’s ”Virtual New Arrivals
                                                                            but do not wish to compete with native speakers at the VCE. This
Program” aimed at teaching English to small numbers of students in
                                                                            alternative pathway however still contributes towards the student’s
regional/country Victoria who cannot access an English Language
                                                                            VCE score. The 2021 Firth Review into vocational education found
Centre. This visionary program began in 2015 and is still the only
                                                                            that a significant number of VET enrolments in both Year 9 and Year
one in Australia, greatly appreciated by the families of the newly-
                                                                            10 were in Languages.
arrived settlers. There are currently 39 participating schools. The
current VNAP students come from Iraq, Iran, Philippines, Thailand,          New Curriculum Publications
Cambodia, China, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Malaysia,          While there is an abundance of Language curriculum publications for
France, Italy and Nepal.                                                    established languages like French and Japanese, there is a shortage
                                                                            of materials for newly established languages or emerging languages
                                                      Early Years
                                                                            with an Australian context. Recent publications, for example, are
                                                      Project:
                                                      Delivery of           for the languages of Punjabi, Malayalam, Sinhala and Chin Hakha
                                                      languages in          (Burma/Myanmar). The VSL has a significant course development
                                                      Kindergarten          section for both face-to-face and Distance Education teaching
                                                      settings              programs. In particular, the school works with talented teachers of
                                                This ongoing                the emerging languages to write, review and publish new textbooks.
                                                DET project                 The school also has a commercial level print room that is able to
                                                commenced in                print books with high production values. The VSL makes many of its
                                                2019. The VSL               more than 150 publications available to all schools, both primary and
                                                developed an                secondary. Orders are placed via the VSL website or by contacting
 Schools we have worked with in 2021            Early Childhood             the VSL head office.
Language Proficiency Assessment Tool (EC-LPAT) now used
                                                                            “Languages Online” – VSL to update the website for schools
to assess the language and cultural competency of educators
in kindergarten settings. Furthermore, the VSL continues to                 On 17 June the Department tasked the VSL to upgrade and enhance
provide assessors for 12 languages identified as part of the                Languages Online which the VSL has hosted for many years.
program and to provide quality assessor training.                           The website is a resource for F-10 learners of languages, initially
                                                                            developed by the DET Languages Unit and then handed over to the
Extending Distance education courses in the Primary Years                   VSL to manage. The website covers the main Languages taught in
This pilot program began in 2019 and involved course scoping,               Victorian schools, namely French, German, Indonesian, Italian, and
writing and delivery of a two-year upper primary in four languages:         Japanese.
French, German, Indonesian and Italian. Teachers used a blended             Over the years, the VSL has added units in other languages out of
teaching approach to deliver the program and modified it to                 its own local funds. Between January 2010 and December 2020 the
accommodate the students and their settings. Further Languages              Languages Online website attracted 29,000,438 users!
may be developed next year.                                                 The first task of the project team will be to replace the current
                                                                            platform with one that meets the new Department web standards
A second aspect is to deliver teaching to whole classes in those
                                                                            and ensures compatibility with contemporary browsers.
regional primary schools that cannot access qualified language

                                                                                                                        N.4, 4 October 2021 | Page 3
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Glimpses from Term 3 of 2021
     Term 3 of 2021 will go down as a most difficult Term as our classes transitioned from remote teaching to onsite
     teaching and back to remote teaching. Yet life went on as our students, teachers and parents transitioned from one
     arrangement to another even at short notice. Yes, there were challenges but also lots of successes. The following
     reports give a brief view of some of the school activities that took place during Term 3.

     Preparing for Term 3                                                        music, the dancing and the food. At the stall there was a display of
     First Aid Training –Tuesday 22 June                                         student work and a panel of three had the difficult task of judging the
                                                                                 student work.
     “On 22 June Maurice organised First Aid training for Teachers,
     Education Support Staff and Area Managers in the seminar rooms on
     the ground floor. There were three separate sessions. The first one was
     a refresher course starting at 8.30am and involved 11 participants, the
     second was also a refresher course and commenced at 9.45am and
     involved 12 participants. The third one was a full course that started at
     8.30am and involved 10 participants.”

                                                                                 Enjoying lunch		                     VSL stall

                                                                                 Five-day school lockdown –– Frank Merlino - Bulletin 19 July

                                                                                 “It has certainly been hot in the kitchen since the announcement of the
                                                                                 five-day school lockdown announced last Thursday evening at around
                                                                                 5.00pm. This didn’t give schools, teachers and students much time
     Training during social distancing                                           to put plans in place for the following morning. DET tried very hard
                                                                                 to communicate arrangements with schools and organised a Webex
     Return to face-to-face teaching – Antonella Cicero –19 June
                                                                                 meeting for school principals at 5.30pm on the same Thursday
     “All ran smoothly on Saturday 19 June at both Shepparton and                evening.
     Croydon. Teachers and students were happy to be in the classroom
                                                                                 The pressure was on our Area Managers who had the time-consuming
     again. There was much laughter and fun activities in the junior classes
                                                                                 task of informing their VCE teachers and students that classes would
     while the VCE classes were quite busy with their SACS. Visitors and
                                                                                 be held remotely on 17 July. One of the side effects of the lockdown is
     parents who entered the school grounds were happy to scan in.
                                                                                 that the VCE Provisional SACs will be deferred to 24 July and affected
     In relation to the use of the QR code, the process was effortless and
                                                                                 students will receive their reports on the following week.
     made it so much easier for the supervisors to monitor.”
                                                                                 Area Managers also had to inform all F-10 students and teachers and
                                Last session for Term 3, University High         parents that all Centre classes were cancelled on Saturday 17 July but
                                                                                 would be rescheduled later in the year. Given the short notice it was
                                “Extremely busy as QR Codes were implemented,
                                                                                 not practical to have the F-10 classes taught remotely last Saturday.
                                reports were distributed, and much more.
                                                                                 We had a couple of parents complaining.
                           However the most memorable incident was               We are living in difficult times but I am sure that we will all adjust well.”
                           that of a Japanese teacher who, on the way to
                           the Centre, had a crash on the freeway. Luckily       Online Teaching Report, Area Manager Sadik Cagdas –19 July
                           she wasn’t injured but her car was written off.
                                                                                 “Although I have had positive feedback so far in regards to attendance
                           Instead of going home or calling for a tow truck
                                                                                 and running of the remote teaching sessions for the VCE classes on
     she made her way to the Centre and taught her class. After the class
                                                                                 Saturday 17/7/2021, I am still concerned that the negative impact on
     her colleagues helped her to take out her personal items from the car,
                                                                                 students in particular and no doubt on teachers and parents outweigh
     called the tow truck and a teacher drove her home.
                                                                                 the positives for these constant shifts from classroom teaching to
     They don’t make teachers as tough as this anymore!”                         remote learning. As much as I understand the health requirements and
                                                                                 need for the lockdowns at times, as I have expressed in my previous
     Portuguese Festival at Victoria Market – Bulletin 12 July                   report earlier this year, the necessity for direct human interaction and
     The first big function of the year took place on Sunday 21 June at the      connection, the stability in the teaching and learning environment and
     Victoria Market. This was the annual celebration of arts, culture and       the need to create a social and emotional wellbeing context for our
     food as part of Portugal’s National Day.                                    students cannot be replaced by any form of remote learning.”

     The Victorian School of Languages is the major provider of Portuguese       Year 11 Chinese Student Arya Baner - Taylors Lakes Centre –
     classes in Victoria and we had a stall with volunteers displaying our       Bulletin 19 July
     VSL language flyers. Our Portuguese teachers are working hard
     to promote the language. Luckily the predicted showers did not              “In the words of Tony Robbins, lockdown continues to “challenge our
     eventuate and instead we had a sunny day with people enjoying the           limits,” yet again, confining our classrooms to the four walls of our
                                                                                 home. Though we have now adapted to it, the debate on whether

Page 4 | N.4, 4 October 2021
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Microsoft Teams and Zoom can compensate for our desks and
chairs rages on, again. Perhaps the greatest challenge of learning
a language in lockdown, that also as a non-Chinese-background
student, is not having the opportunity to immerse myself in its culture.
Feeling disheartened when I cannot participate in those discussions
with my classmates, the green-eyed monster of envy is let loose. But,
like always, my teachers continue to play the hero, and provide me an
escape from reality through literature and language. They continue to
be the fuel empowering both my class and myself through this difficult
period.”                                                                   South East area, - Heather Rae – 24 July
                                                                           “There were several highlights for individual classes, as remote
                                                                           learning offers the opportunity to invite guests to lessons who would
                                                                           not normally be able to attend in person.

                                                                           • The Hindi classes at Dandenong were able to join one large group,
                                                                           and enjoyed a visit from an Australian/Indian Olympian international
                                                                           wrestler, Sandeep Kumar
                                                                           • Sinhala 3-6 at Berwick had a guest speaker, Chamani Sharma from
                                                                           the Casey Cardinia Libraries, who read aloud a story in Sinhala and
                                                                           explained about the range of books available to students in the Casey-
VSL South 2 area – Venetia Kefalianos – 17 July
                                                                           Cardinina Libraries in languages other than English.
“It has been very hectic this morning with the usual frantic phone calls
                                                                           • Punjabi 5 (Hampton Park) enjoyed a guest speaker, Daljit Kaur, who
from VCE students.
                                                                           is living in India, but was able to join the class and speak about schools
Luckily all our VCE teachers had sent their zoom link to me so I was       and life in India.
able to send out the link.
                                                                           • Classes were also encouraged to include a story and reading aloud
• A number of VCE student inboxes were full so students did not            books in their classes, as this week starts the VSL South East Reading
receive their email - this was soon sorted out.                            Challenge for Term 3.”
• The other main issue was the new Unit 2 VCE students who were            West 1 – Pashalia Eglezos - 24 July
contacted and informed about the online VCE language provision
                                                                           “Today I welcomed the inaugural Dutch F-10 class at VSL Altona
• We are currently preparing for F-10 online provision next week.          North. Despite this being held online, students were enthusiastic and
Teachers will be provided with the following to make the online            participated in the work set by their teacher, Joyce Diebels.
transition easier and effective VSL data collection:
                                                                           I also visited other classes from the following faculties: Chin Hakha,
 Word generic lesson plan
                                                                           Greek, Hindi, Japanese, Spanish and Vietnamese. In particular, a
 Word document rolls – this needs preparation as they need to             Japanese class was studying the Tokyo Olympic Games and the
be individually converted from PDF to word. This will then allow the       Greek class was discussing the Olympic Games within the Ancient
teachers to quickly enter attendance clearly on the word document,         Greek framework. Students presented drawings of the Olympic rings
and cuts out the taking of photos and messy rolls.                         and various sports.
 A set of class emails (just copied and pasted                            It’s great to see our students engaging in the world around them.”
individually from SIP) these will be individually
sent to staff who then will copy and paste on
their Zoom invitation.
 A class contact list which allows staff to
communicate with students.”

“Never-ending Story”, Area Manager Kerry Law – 19 July

“Delta variant COVID hits us faster than a tornado, doesn’t it?! I am
so glad the quick and sharp decision made by our Leadership team
for cancelling the Foundation to Year 10 classes and having remote
learning for VCE classes.                                                  Model UN conference in German- Annette Buchholz and Nicole
Parents, guardians, and International Student Coordinators were very       Butcher – 26 July
appreciative of our efforts to keep them informed and he fact that we      “Seven of our Year 11 students participated in a virtual UN model
continue running the VCE classes. Even though our VCE students             conference with the topic: Planet Ocean: Protecting the World’s
had their class remotely today, the attendance was very high. This         Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources.
is another thing I am happy about and I have certainly praised our
                                                                           They had to familiarise themselves with the general idea of the UN
students’ positive work ethic and attitudes.
                                                                           and the General Assembly, then they had to read the draft resolution
I hope we will be able to have face to face classes next week.”            and undertake research about the two countries they were going to

                                                                                                                        N.4, 4 October 2021 | Page 5
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Glimpses from Term 3 of 2021
     represent, Mexico and Costa Rica. We met on Microsoft Teams a
     couple of times and we shared ideas on a Google Drive file.

     By the last day of Term 2 we completed our pre-recorded videos and
     after the holidays, the students had three days to watch the other
     videos and get an idea about their ‘foes and friends’.                      UN Model conference team Nicole and Annette

     On the day of the conference, we all met at the Multicultural Hub. The      the crisis in Afghanistan, while also keeping them grounded in their
     students participated actively and passionately during the conference       education here in Melbourne. It was very pleasing to see excellent
     and negotiated with others to find supporters for their amendments.         attendance in each of these classes this week, and I was able to visit
     There was a moderated and unmoderated caucus, and at the end,               some of the classes and talk with them – even though it feels like there
     the students voted on the final resolution.”                                is so little we can do for them.

                                                                                 Last Thursday we received an invitation from the Department for
                                                                                 relevant school staff to participate in an online briefing on how schools
                                                                                 can support students from an Afghan background. Following the
                                                                                 briefing we sent out a message to our Afghan families:

                                                                                 “‫! ایروتکیو تلایا اهنابز بتکم طوبرم اهناغفا هعماج هب‬

                                                                                 To our Victorian School of Languages community
                                                                                 We would like to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with
                                                                                 and care for, our students and families of Afghan background and to
     Revised “Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0”
                                                                                 their loved ones still in Afghanistan.
     (FISO) – Dr David Howes, 3 August
                                                                                 We want you all to know that we are here, we see what you are going
     At a DET online principals’ conference on 3 August, the Department’s        through. We are so glad that you are here in out community and we
     Deputy Secretary, Dr David Howes, announced that, as as a result of         want to offer our support to you and your families. We will be reaching
     the remote teaching experience, the Framework for Improved Student          out to families and please contact us if we can help.
     Learning (FISO) would be reduced from 7 to 5 elements and this de-
     cluttering is driven by
                                                                                 Central 1 - Vanda – Students with a Disability - Bulletin 23 August
     (i) a lifting of the focus on wellbeing; and
     (ii) a concentration on what matters most.                                  “Students with disabilities are generally not coping with remote
                                                                                 learning. Parents and staff have reported that the students are in
     The new 5 FISO elements are: Leadership, Assessment, Support,
                                                                                 danger of becoming disconnected, their attendance can be sporadic,
     Engagement, Teaching & Learning
                                                                                 and little can be achieved if we don’t provide support. Some students
     “FISO 2.0 sets out the core elements that realise the goals of              have behavioural challenges that are difficult for our teachers to
     excellence and equity through developing the learning and wellbeing         address when teaching in the classroom, let alone remotely. I have a
     of every student.”                                                          few that have dropped out. I encourage my teachers to differentiate
                                                                                 between the different types of students. These students thrive on the
                                                                                 relationships they have with their teachers which is not the same in
                                                                                 the virtual classroom. They miss out on that personal connection that
                                                                                 happens face to face.
                                                                                 The following is an email from a parent to her child’s teacher:

                                                                                 “Hi (Name of teacher),
                                                                                 Thanks for the email. (Student Name) has level 1 ASD (VSL should
                                                                                 have his paperwork on file) and he does well with the structure of
                                                                                 school in person but it’s extremely difficult for me to keep him online
     “These core elements together build a positive environment through
                                                                                 for any kind of video call and his behaviour can be very challenging. He
     strong relationships that enable every student to thrive. This enables
                                                                                 keeps running away! His primary school only does one video roll call in
     all students to become happy, healthy, and resilient; successful lifelong
                                                                                 the morning and posts daily tasks to do, but it is still a big challenge.
     learners; and active, informed members of just and sustainable
                                                                                 I will do my best to go over the worksheets that you send through to
     communities …There should be a sense of optimism as we go forward
                                                                                 keep him ‘in the loop’. We have actually been flying his kite this week,
     with our shared leadership involving 1,540 schools across Victoria.”
                                                                                 as it happens!
     Supporting our Afghani Community – Heather Rae - 23 August                  Kind regards,”
     “This week has been very challenging for some of the teachers at
                                                                                 South 2 area online classes - Venetia - Saturday 21st August
     South East, as we have many students with Afghan background at
     the Dandenong centre, learning Dari and Persian. The teachers have          “South 2 classes ran smoothly this week. We had no intruders, all staff
     been outstanding in supporting their students, helping them deal with       sent their zoom link to me and parents were generally armed with the

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Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
correct information needed to assist me with providing a zoom link.         • Problems experienced by some international students
All our VCE staff are currently preparing for their online SACs and there   • Students’ experiences before coming to Australia
is a flurry of parents emailing me concerning camera issues.
                                                                            • Students’ experiences after coming to Australia
Although the F-10 classes are working well with some classes                • Understanding of students’ problematic behaviours
completing online cooking lessons and story reading sessions, there
                                                                            • Recommendations for working with international students and their
are a notable number of weary parents who inform us that they wish
                                                                            parents
to withdraw until next year.
                                                                            Distance Education Parent-Teacher interviews – 31 August
We also have a number of weary teary teachers who are finding the
going a little challenging.                                                 The Distance Education Parent–Teacher interviews were held last
I am finding that compared to 2020 I am spending more time providing        Tuesday 31 August. Teachers were asked to put in Chat in Teams any
encouragement to staff.”                                                    feedback from parents from during the day. Here are a small number
                                                                            of the many positive comments we received from parents:
West 1 – Saturday 28 August – Lisa Eglezos
                                                                            • Katja – All going well so far. Parents are very pleased about the way
“As a result of working with teachers and encouraging them to adopt         we communicate with them regularly.
various strategies, I received this positive response from a mother         • Namasté – I’ve been starting the PTI by asking parents how their
whose children were about to withdraw from classes:                         child is going? I had one parent: “no how are you going? not easy
“Wonderful classes on Saturday.                                             teaching and managing things at home. I appreciate what you do”.

For Spanish at Footscray, Alejandra Maspolli split the class in half.       • Louise – In a chat I had with a Year 8 student she commented “But,
She presented such an engaging class! She incorporated, colouring           Louise how are you doing right now?”. It was really sweet coming
activities, singing, video clips combined with her very clear Spanish       from a kid too!
communication and encouraged the children to communicate what               • Rosa – I had one parent thank me for being an ‘old school teacher’
they had drawn. Very impressive.                                            and not ‘a rabid leftie’.
Also, the Albanian teacher, Ms Hoxhallari, provided work to do while        • Nathalie – I just had a parent tell me that their child is always very
off-line, then parts requiring my son to be back on-line. Combining this    happy and feels re-motivated after his oral lessons, she was very
with some very engaging language games had my son so attentive              appreciative of the extra work I have given him to extend his French
and soaking up the learning.                                                (he is a native speaker)
Some great positive changes from them both.                                 • Lidia – It is going well. I also had parents thanking me for my
Great work.”                                                                dedication, patience and being supportive. Very rewarding.
                                                                            • Adel – My night ended, with a parent from Saudi Arabia praising
RU OK? Day – Vanda Matruglio – 6 September
                                                                            distance education and what a great job we all do. She was very
“Some staff that work in day schools along with the VSL are struggling      pleased with how our students are treated and how we are attentive
with remote learning.                                                       to detail. It’s comments like this that confirm how rewarding our job is
Sept 9th is national RU OK? Day. It is important to reach out to our        • Nicole Butcher – A parent I spoke to told me lockdown has helped
dedicated staff and check on their wellbeing. I intend to organize a        her appreciate how hard teachers work, and she thinks teaching
voluntary, informal, fun meeting on 11 September commencing at              should be the highest-paid profession!
12.45pm whereby we do not talk about school issues. The session
will run for an hour centred around self-care, resilience and sharing of    Ehiopian New Year – Footscray Centre - Bulletin 13 September
enjoyable lockdown activities.                                              “On Saturday 11 September one of the classes I joined in was an
Some ideas that can be incorporated include:                                Amharic class at the VSL Footscray centre as it celebrated the
                                                                            Ethiopian New Year.
• Share how you balance your personal and work life during
lockdowns.                                                                  Despite the Covid lock down, the teacher, Ms Tenenet Taye,
• Share your lockdown hobby.                                                encouraged students to participate in various class activities, such as
• Share a book you have read or are reading.                                singing, storytelling and card making.
• Share a new album or podcast you are listening to.                        After class, students celebrated the New Year with their families and
• Share your local walking trail.                                           friends, connecting with each other through online platforms such as
• Share a TV series, YouTube or documentary you are watching.               Zoom.

(The above are the first 6 of 14 suggestions.)                              The VSL wishes the Ethiopian community a Happy New Year, and
                                                                            hopefully we will be able to see our students back at school soon!”
Enhancing the Wellbeing of International Students – 31 August

“The number of international students in Victoria has obviously
decreased in the last two years. While most are proving to be resilient
there are a number that are facing health issues. On 31 August
senior VSL staff received a briefing from Joanna Zhu who is a clinical
psychologist with over 18 years of experience working with Chinese
clients across all age groups.
Ms Zhu presented the following topics:

                                                                                                                        N.4, 4 October 2021 | Page 7
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Increasing VCE Language choices to students in Regional areas
     As part of the “VCE Expansion Inititative”, Monash University undertook a review of online teaching practices
     and ran a course for teachers delivering the online languages.
     In 2019, the Minister for Education, the Hon James Merlino MP,        •   designing static online content,
     decided that all students in regional Victoria should access ALL      •   privacy and copyright,
     of the VCE subjects. The Department’s VCE Expansion Initiative is     •   communication and collaboration,
     therefore aimed at increasing the range of VCE offerings through      •   social media policy and practice,
     Distance Education and to enhance online teaching as a whole.         •   assessment and feedback, including via online delivery

                                                                           Twenty nine members of staff have completed the course to date.

                                                                           The following reflections were made by three of our teachers:

                                                                           (i) Michael Boss
                                                                           “It was good to see how different types of students responded
                                                                           to online learning as necessitated by lockdowns. It was also
                                                                           enlightening to see how a balance and variety of feedback
                                                                           techniques is more beneficial for student engagement and progress,
                                                                           for example, using video as well as written or audio feedback.”

                                                                           (ii) Namasté Gadbois
                                                                           “I enjoyed the opportunity for further study. A lot of the content
                                                                           was really stimulating, especially on feedback, that was really
     Lunchtime break in the Treasury Gardens                               interesting for me and I am trying to adopt some of the concepts
                                                                           in my teaching”
     As part of this initiative, the Victorian School of Languages was
     funded to develop new VCE courses for Hindi, Punjabi and              (iii) Mike Atkinson
     Vietnamese and to make enhancements to other distance                 “The Leading Virtual Learning course has been a fantastic way
     education courses.                                                    to identify areas of improvement for our practice. Having the
                                                                           opportunity to place what we do against the background of up to
     The Department also commissioned Monash University to                 date theory and develop new ways of thinking has been inspiring
     undertake a review of online teaching practice at the three DET       and enjoyable - and of course of great benefit to our students.”
     distance education providers and virtual school clusters, and to
     design and run a ‘Leading Virtual Learning’ course for teachers
     working in online delivery.

     Our school established a Teaching Practice Team to analyse current
     practice, research some options, make recommendations that
     inform course development, respond formally to the Monash/DET
     report, and position our staff to best deliver online. The Team met
     through 2020 and 2021 and worked on a number of the report’s
     priorities, namely student preparedness, feedback, student
     collaboration, student interaction and parental involvement.

     The course was designed and taught by highly credentialed experts
     in the field from Monash University, Professor Michael Henderson
     and Associate Professor Mike Phillips, and it has been a unique       Professor Michael Henderson presenting
     opportunity for us to gain the most current knowledge about online
     teaching. The key aim of the course was to equip teachers with        The consensus by our staff is that it has been a demanding and
     knowledge, skills and experiences to effectively design, facilitate   rigorous course to undertake on top of full time work, but our staff
     and assess with online educational technologies in virtual teaching   have managed admirably and have got a lot out of it. Participants
     and learning.                                                         have been doing follow up PD with the rest of the staff to acquaint
                                                                           them with some of the key developments. The course has inspired
     The main topics covered were:                                         and informed our teaching staff as they continue to improve and
     • flexible learning,                                                  adapt courses to the demands of the digital age.
     • learning theory and student motivation,
     • cognitive load theory and multimedia,

Page 8 | N.4, 4 October 2021
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Digital Distractions and its (Negative) Impact on Students
One of the consequences of the dramatic increase in the use of technology is the impact it is having on
students’ ability to concentrate.
The Gonski Institute at the University of NSW, amongst other
educational institutions, has warned that digital technology has
become a growing distraction on students’ learning capacities.
One of its spokesmen, Professor Pasi Sahlberg, warns that “What is
happening now with our kids is the biggest educational experiment
in history.” We need to understand children’s habits and the benefits
and pitfalls of screen-based technology. The systematic transition
from face-to-face teaching to remote teaching has accelerated the
problem.

Digital devices put the world at our students’ fingertips, whether
with their own mobile phones or with school-provided computers           effective – instead we are engaging in continuous task switching
and tablets, but with this comes the risks of added distraction.         and this has cognitive costs.

                                                                         · Technology lends itself to multi-tasking. We can have multiple
Children and young adults live in a ‘digital smorgasbord’, according
                                                                         browsers simultaneously open and dip in and out of apps and
to Dr Kristy Gordon, where they are “drooling over screens for
                                                                         watch television, whilst performing a myriad of other things with
increasing periods of time each day.” And this digital bombardment
                                                                         our gadgets.
is changing their attention span and their ability to retain and
process information. In today’s digital world it’s so much harder for    · They are having inadequate sleep. We are sleeping a lot less
individuals to manage their attention without getting side-tracked       than we did generations ago – it’s much harder to manage our
by SMSs, emails, Facebook, etc. And if it’s hard for adults, one can     attention when we are fatigued after a poor night’s sleep.
only imagine how difficult it must be for school-aged students.
                                                                         · The part of the brain responsible for attention is not yet fully
Information overload                                                     developed. in adults between the early to late 20s. So children are
                                                                         being literally ‘dunked in a digital stream’ when their brains are not
One of the reasons that we’re finding it more challenging to manage
                                                                         yet able to control their impulses and manage their attention.
our attention in a digital world is because we are suffering from
‘infobesity’ - we’re literally drowning in information and the rate is   What can teachers and parents do?
speeding up. The pace has accelerated by the phenomenal growth
                                                                         · Teach children whenever possible to monotask - finish one task
in emails which can be sent at all hours of the day and night, with
                                                                         properly before starting a new one.
pressure on the recipients to open them regularly.
                                                                         · Encourage children to take regular breaks – so they can sustain
Clearly teachers are concerned that new technologies are creating        their attention – go outside, play with a pet, climb a tree, ride a
an easily distracted generation with short attention spans. One          bicycle, engage in green time for ‘mind wandering’.
researcher who studied senior students’ technology habits at home
found that some students averaged less than six minutes on a task        · Minimise distractions – use one app on a tablet device at a time,
before succumbing to other digital distractions.                         turn off unnecessary alerts.

                                                                         · Insist that children get a good night’s sleep – thus also minimising
Today’s digital learners are distracted by technology in two ways:
                                                                         the risk of anxiety and depression.
Externally - sounds, flashes and notifications can distract students
                                                                         · Establish tech-free zones at home and in the classroom, remove
from what they are doing and redirect their attention to another task.
                                                                         television and technology devices from the bedroom.
Internally - many students are thinking about technology, even
                                                                         · Revert to using pen/pencil and paper.
when not using it - out of sight is not necessarily out of mind.
                                                                         · Encourage them to be more self-reliant – do they really have
Continuous task-switching can interrupt the consolidation of             to ask “Hey Siri, what time is it?”; Have they tried reading a map
information from short to long-term memory.                              instead of using a GPS?; Do they know what 9 x 9 is without using
                                                                         a calculator?; Can they recite a good poem which is longer than
Why are children’s attention spans changing?
                                                                         six lines?
Quite simply because they are using technology for increasing
amounts of time. Some tweens (aged 8-12 years), for example, are         Technology is a fact of life in the 21st century and cannot be banned
spending 6 hours a day with media and this doesn’t include time          or avoided. The task, according to Professor Adrian Piccoli of the
spent using media for school work or homework. According to Dr           Gorski Institute, “is to make sure that children are exposed to the
Gordon, students’ attention span are changing because                    right technology for the right amount of time at the right time – not
                                                                         six or 10 hours a day or at 3.00am.” This points to a joint role of
· They are suffering from infobesity. The onslaught is causing           parents and teachers working together with children to manage
cognitive overload.                                                      technology usage and minimise digital distraction.
· They are multi-tasking. Despite the myth, multi-taking is not
                                                                         Source: Gonski Institute report, and Dr Kristy Gordon

                                                                                                                    N.4, 4 October 2021 | Page 9
Family& Staff Bulletin - Victorian School of Languages
Completing the 2021 Tutor Learning Initiative
     The Tutor Learning Initiative was announced by the Minister for Education on 13 October 2020 to ensure that
     students would not be left behind in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
     The Victorian School of Languages became part of the TLI program         According to Dr Siddell, “In their feedback on the project, tutors
     which is on track to be completed this Term.                             have observed an overall improvement in students’ key language
                                                                              skills. While the move away from face-to-face tutorials interrupted
     The tutors were to work with small groups of students from Monday        continuity to some extent, there has been a gradual increase in
     to Friday concentrating on literacy and numeracy. An allowance           student motivation. Tutors working with Year 12 students have
     was made to the VSL to have the tutoring lessons to be held at the       noted that one of the greatest challenges facing them is time
     end of each class for one hour and to use our current Language           management; the set time and conversational activities of the
     staff.                                                                   TLI tutorial have helped these students maintain commitment
                                                                              and momentum. The small group setting has permitted students
                                                                              to participate in shorter more focused, tasks which keep them
                                                                              engaged, facilitate rapid progress and provide opportunities to
                                                                              reflect on their learning.”

                                                                              The 2021 TLI program will conclude with some simple assessments,
                                                                              including a student self-assessment survey, to track the learning
                                                                              progress of the participants. With the attendance records, these
                                                                              results will provide insights into the success of the project and how
                                                                              it might set a precedent for similar work in the future.

    Ms Sukhbir Kaur, Hindi, pre-lockdown

                                                                              Mr Lakhvir Singh, Punjabi, pre-lockdown

    … and during lockdown

     Area Manager Felix Siddell was given the task of managing the roll
     out across the State.

     It was the original intention that the selected students would have
     face-to-face tuition however the tutorials, like our Centre classes,
     had to move to remote delivery. The rollout of the scheme in the
     VSL was also shaped by the availability of staff and the number of
     students opting in. Among the language groups that participated
     were Chinese, Chin Hakha, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese,
                                                                              Mr Lian Ding Hmung, Chin Hakha, during lockdown
     Karen, Portuguese, Punjabi, Sinhala, Spanish and Vietnamese.
     The school decided that priority would be given to senior students,      “Over the course of 2021,” according to Dr Siddell, “the Tutoring
     namely Year 10 to Year 12. For VCE students the development              Initiative has had to make a number of adaptations to changing
     of oral skills and preparation for oral examinations emerged as          circumstances, a reminder that in education, nothing can be
     a real area of need in the current COVID-19 context which has            assumed or taken for granted. In its focus on individual student
     significantly reduced opportunities for oral practice.                   needs, the TLI Project also reminds us that the mainstay of
                                                                              education is optimism, the belief that with patience, hard work and
     The TLI groups have completed their initial assessments and              resilience, our students can continue to make progress and often
     introductory activities and are responding to the individual needs of    surprise themselves with excellent learning outcomes.”
     the participating students. The requirement to deliver the tutorials
     remotely has also assisted those students who did not initially
     relate to this learning style, by helping them work confidently in the
     more manageable small group setting.

Page 10 | N.4, 4 October 2021
Expansion in Teaching of Indian languages
It is a reflection of the growth of the Indian community in Victoria and of India’s growing economy, that our
government is keen to promote the study of Indian languages. The Victorian School of Languages continues
to lead the nation in the teaching of Indian languages to school-aged students.

While it is true that many people in India speak English there are
millions that do not. The Indian constitution, in fact, recognises 22
regional languages and most of them have over 40 million speakers!

The VSL introduced Hindi in 1987 at its Brunswick Centre under the
encouragement of Dr Dinesh Srivastava. The school then worked
together with a group of teachers to have the language accredited
as a VCE subject. Hindi is now taught at the following Centres
around Victoria: Berwick, Blackburn, Caroline Springs, Dandenong,
Epping, Glen Waverley, Melton, Sunshine, Shepparton, Werribee,             Hindi Niketan performance
Wodonga. Hindi has now also been introduced in the VSL’s
                                                                           • Cultural organisations like Hindi Niketan, Tamilar Inc and the
distance education section, thus making it accessible to senior
                                                                           Punjabi teachers’ network do a great job in promoting the study
students in regional/rural Victoria.
                                                                           of Indian languages.

                                       The school has also introduced      • The Australia India Institute is an effective academic and research
                                       a whole range of other Indian       organisation. It has recently appointed Ms Lisa Singh (photo left) as
                                       languages,     namely    Bengali,   its new Director, a person who is a strong advocate.
                                       Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam,       • The number of Indian students will most likely increase once the
                                       Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu     international travel restrictions are lifted.
                                       (also a language of Pakistan).
                                       We have supported Malayalam
                                       accredited as a VCE subject but
                                       the process is on hold, instead
Ms Lisa Singh
                                       a Certificate course is being
                                      prepared.

The greatest challenge that we face is to make our Indian
community aware that our classes are available and that, as well as
the satisfaction that students obtain from speaking their preferred
language, the students’ VCE results contribute to their ATAR
score and contribute to all university entrance faculties from law to
medicine, from accounting to engineering.

                                                                           “Indian Voice”, September 2021   New Year 11 Punjabi textbook

                                                                           Despite the school transitioning to remote teaching last Term, our
                                                                           teachers of Indian languages have shown remarkable creativity in
                                                                           involving their students. Here are three examples:

                                                                           • On 29 August at the VSL Berwick and Hampton Park Centres,
                                                                           five classes combined to celebrate the Malayalam festival of
                                                                           Onam, and they were able to include a guest speaker from India, a
                                                                           community representative, a young Malayalam girl who is currently
                                                                           performing on “The Voice” on television, and performances from all
Student performer at online Hindi Diwas   Mr Raj Kumar Consul-General
                                                                           the classes, individuals and groups.
There is a sound basis for Hindi and other Indian Languages to be
more widely taught:                                                        • On August 14, Hindi and Kannada communities celebrated Indian
                                                                           Independence – and again were able to combine several classes to
• ACARA several years ago included Hindi as one of the languages
                                                                           celebrate in remote settings but together in their learning.
to be taught in Australian schools.
• La Trobe University and the Australian National University teach         • On 15 September students from various Centres participated in
it at the tertiary level.                                                  the Hindi Diwali Zoom celebration hosted by Consul-General Mr
                                                                           Raj Kumar.
• The number of Indian festivals and events celebrated in Victoria
(prior to the Covid-19 restrictions) have expanded significantly (eg       The VSL continues to organise creative teachers to write textbooks
Indian Film Festival, Diwali Festival)                                     and other curriculum materials that have an Australian setting.

                                                                                                                    N.4,
                                                                                                                     N.4,44October
                                                                                                                            October2021
                                                                                                                                    2021| |Page
                                                                                                                                            Page11
                                                                                                                                                 3
School Updates

     Key Dates Term 4                                                        Distance Education: In development for 2022

     18 September       Last session Term 3                                   New Interactive courses:

     9 October          First session Term 4                                  • Year 10 French

     4 Oct - 31 Oct     VCE Oral examinations                                 • Year 10 German

     11 October         2022 enrolments open for current Centre students      • Year 10 Indonesian

     16 October         Final Day Centre VCE CCAFL, Arabic                    • Year 10 Japanese
     		                 and Korean FL/SL students                             • Year 10 Spanish
     19 October         VCE Written examinations –                            • Chinese Units 3 & 4
     		                 CCAFL Languages (plus Arabic & Korean FL & SL)
                                                                              • Chinese SLA Units 3 & 4
     25 October         2022 enrolments open for new students
     		                 and distance education students                       • Vietnamese Units 3 & 4

     27 Oct -17 Nov     VCE written exams
                                                                              VCE new Study Designs:
     6 November         Final Day (Centres) VCE students
                                                                              • Chinese (First Languages)
     27 November        Final Day (Centres) F-10 students
                                                                              • Indonesian (First Languages)
     16 December        VCE results released by VCAA
                                                                              • Japanese (First Languages)
     17 December        Term 4 ends for Government schools
                                                                              • Latin
     29 January 2022    Centre Staff PD
     28 January 2022    Government school teachers resume
     5 February 2022    First Centre Session 2022 (Sat)

  Hungarian Teacher – Agnes Korlaki                                        is an ancient culture that has withstood so much. Be proud and go
                                                                           learn Hungarian, you won’t regret it.”

                                      Why would the Hungarian              Teaching at the VSL in Dandenong, she says her students have
                                      community        in    Melbourne     many levels of Hungarian knowledge and ability. The drive to learn
                                      want their children to learn the     usually comes from a parent, but students quickly enjoy the chance
                                      Hungarian      language?     Most    to socialise with a new group of friends, often forming strong
                                      children are born in Australia       friendships lasting long past their school days. Victorian students
                                      and already learn a language         also know the value of studying a language to gain a good VCE
                                      at their regular school. VSL         score and enhance their university entrance ranking (ATAR).
                                      Hungarian teacher, Ms Agnes
                                      Korlaki, recognises Hungarian        Describing her lessons, Ms Korlaki explains, “Over the years, there
                                      families’ desire to maintain their   have been lots of tears and laughter, and certainly lots of socialising.”
                                      national heritage and learn about    Nevertheless, under her skilled guidance, most students put their
                                      their home country and culture       best effort into studying the language and culture, with top scores in
  alongside their Australian life. Students, however, simply enjoy the     VCE in most years.
  chance to socialise with other young people with similar background.
                                                                           Ms Korlaki taught the teaching the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Award
  Agnes Korlaki started teaching Hungarian at Kindergarten level           winner for Hungarian, Borbala Szalo, and describes a student
  almost 40 years ago and worked her way up the education ladder.          who set her sights high. “Borbala is a quiet determined girl who
  2021 is Agnes’s 15th year teaching VCE Hungarian. In 2017, she           completed every task and lots of extra work. She asked questions
  received one of Hungary’s highest awards, the “Gold Merit Cross”         about every mistake, how to answer questions successfully, and
  for her work educating children in the Hungarian language in a           how to respond.”
  distant diaspora.
                                                                           2020 and 2021 have seen extended periods of remote learning,
  Ms Korlaki came to Australia as a young child in the post-war            when Ms Korlaki needed to run lessons via Zoom. The technology
  European migration wave. As a teacher, she believes learning about       challenges of remote teaching have brought many teachers and
  your culture and language is a privilege. She explains, “It opens        students close to breaking point and Ms Korlaki describes how most
  up doors, possibilities and connections. Learning their parents’         students started off well but eventually weaker students would miss
  language gives children pride in themselves, knowing they are not        lessons and submit less work for correction and advice.
  one dimensional in this multicultural world.”
                                                                           Looking back on a rich teaching career, Ms Korlaki says her biggest
  Ms Korlaki hopes Hungarian lessons spark students’ interest in their     reward has been seeing friendships develop and good results
  country of origin. The cultural interest might not happen immediately    achieved in students’ mother tongue. “A teacher needs to value and
  but certainly builds as young people travel through to adulthood.        respect every student and I always try to respond to the best of my
  “Hungary may now be a small country, but the Hungarian culture           ability.”

Page 12 | N.4, 4 October 2021
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