Literacy is an important part of the College’s Strategic Plan so that students develop the knowledge and skills needed for education, training and the workplace. With the help of a range of assessment tools, teachers will work with students to set meaningful goals to develop their literacy skills so that they can improve the quality of their reading and writing.
Students will be provided with opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills through a variety of formal and informal oral tasks. These include debating, book reports, speech presentations and oral comprehension activities.
The English and EAL program aims to extend students’ competencies in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening: skills that are required for every subject. Not only is this achieved through varied teaching methods in the classroom, but students are also offered numerous enrichment opportunities to further develop their abilities. Appreciation and enjoyment of language and literature helps students to become independent learners and develop an ever-widening language repertoire for personal and public use in contemporary society.
EAL is the English pathway for students who come from a language background other than English, and who require additional support in developing their language and literacy in English. Students are identified as EAL if they have been learning English for less than seven years; students who have been identified as EAL in an Australian primary school will continue studying the EAL curriculum in secondary school.
At Cranbourne Secondary College EAL runs as a core subject in Years 7-12, with the addition of EAL Support classes in Years 7 and 8 (as an alternative to the German language study).
In EAL classes students undertake the same types of learning and class activities as in mainstream English: reading texts and viewing film texts; writing creative, informative, and analytical pieces; and engaging in speaking and listening through the presentation of formal oral speeches and informal class discussions. Students develop their English through skills such as reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, text structures, writing styles, and grammar patterns. The study of various fiction and non-fiction texts supports the development of communicative skills, linguistic knowledge and cultural understandings.
Multicultural aides work in classrooms to assist newly arrived students from non-English speaking backgrounds. Our multicultural aides come from a variety of language backgrounds including Dari, Farsi, Urdu, and Samoan. Aides support students by explaining and scaffolding the tasks and instructions and using first languages to help students develop their understanding of new material.
Students in Year 10 EAL move into one of three possible senior English pathways: VCE EAL; VCE English; or VCE Vocational Major (VM) Literacy. Students must meet specific criteria to undertake EAL as a VCE subject. The eligibility to undertake VCE EAL is assessed with students as part of their senior course counselling activities in Year 10.