BSSC has a long and proud history of supporting students new to Australia who need to start or improve their English language skills.
In the late 1980s, teacher Diane Gee began offering English classes once a week during lunchtime. How things have changed—BSSC’s highly skilled and incredibly dedicated team of English as an Additional Language (EAL)staff continue the tradition in two streams.
EAL is taught under the umbrella of the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC). Students in the ‘A’ stream of EAL are new to English and study it as an ‘Intensive’ course.
Those in the ‘B’ stream have moved into building confidence using English to expand their learning into new areas.
Baked into the EAL program is a commitment to creating understanding about Australian culture—our strange ways and obscure slang can be mystifying for newcomers.
It’s also a huge process to learn a new language and adapt to the vast differences between life in a refugee camp—where many of our EAL students are from—and life in Bendigo.
Equally, it can be hard for Australian students to grasp the enormity of the adjustments EAL students frequently face. For example, fresh drinkable water on tap is something most Australians take for granted.
Yet one student commented on her amazement, on arriving in Australia as an eight-year-old, to discover she no longer had to collect water in a bucket from the river—water that had to be boiled before it was safe to drink.
This year 38 students are enrolled in the Intensive EAL (A stream) program and a significant number more are enrolled in the B stream.
During Term 2 look out for eNews, Meta, and Instagram articles highlighting the great work our EAL team are doing and celebrating the immense courage and commitment of our EAL students.
… say ‘hello’ today.
