Kate Harris

Welcome to the EAL/D conversations podcast. My name is Kate Harris and I'm the EAL/D Education Advisor for K to 6 with the New South Wales Department of Education. Today I'm joined by Paul Fitzgerald, who is the Intensive English Programs Advisor with the Department of Education and we're going to be looking at IECs. Paul, can you please explain what is an IEC?

Paul Fitzgerald

Thanks, Kate. An Intensive English Centre, an IEC, is effectively the place where newly arrived high school age students attend prior to entering into mainstream high school. There are 15 operating across New South Wales at present and we also have one Intensive English High School that operates at Alexandria.

Kate Harris

With the IECs, what is the eligibility criteria for students to be able to attend?

Paul Fitzgerald

Well, firstly, they have to be newly arrived. We can take students that have been in the country for up to six months. They have to be high school aged and that is between 11 and 17. Having said that, we do have a Bankstown Senior Intensive English Centre which caters for students between 18 and 24. So effectively we deliver the services for that high school age student that has newly arrived. They originally or should attend their local in-area high school. And they should be referred to the local Intensive English Centre, which then conducts a series of English proficiency tests to determine whether they do require additional language support or English support. And then, depending on the results, we can recommend to the family and to the student that they stay in the intensive English program for up to five terms prior to leaving and entering their mainstream in-area high school.

Kate Harris

What would be the benefit of a student attending their local IEC?

Paul Fitzgerald

There are a variety of benefits, Kate. Firstly, they are purpose built to cater for the English proficiency needs of these students. So, we study the high school curriculum just like mainstream curriculum with all the KLAs, but we have a language focus. We have specially trained TESOL teachers that fill the role as classroom teachers in the intensive English program, and they also have a lot of SLSO bilingual support. Each of the main language groups has their own SLSO bilingual staff that can assist with their learning needs. So, it is really purpose built. We cater for the student that requires support in understanding the academic language surrounding the learning process in high school and those students that simply couldn't cope with the academic language that they will be exposed to. By coming to the IEC it's a graduation program. The classes are effectively streamed according to language level. You have very small class sizes ranging between seven or eight students per class, up to 18 students per class, and they receive intensive English support across every KLA. So, all the KLAs they study - English science, maths, HSIE and all the other KLA's, but they are language based so they get that academic knowledge of the academic language they require and the support they require to engage in it.

Kate Harris

It sounds like there's a lot of additional support that students receive through IECs in terms of being able to have that additional English support across every single KLA. You mentioned that these centres are designed for high school students, but some year six students may also be eligible to attend. Can you tell me a little bit more about the eligibility criteria for year six students and what the benefits would be for them to be able to attend an IEC?

Paul Fitzgerald

Well, Kate in terms of eligibility as long as they have arrived within the last six months and also if they have turned 11 by the 31st of July. They are the two main criteria that are used to determine eligibility for entry into an Intensive English Centre. We do have special placement requests that can be made by primary schools or high schools outside that strict eligibility criteria. For example, if a student had enrolled in high school, say, 18 months ago or during year five, then if the staff of the primary school or the high school determined that they still require intensive English support and would be better suited in an Intensive English Centre rather than their current primary school setting or their high school setting, they can make a special request application through me. And I can determine whether I will approve that request and then allow that student to transition into their local Intensive English Centre. In regards the benefits for the student once again, I think it's mainly the specific training and the intensive support we have support for these students in every period of the day. They are SLSO bilingual support. We have special reading programs, special targeted programs that cater for every learning need of an EAL/D or a newly arrived student. And they will also be in very, very, very small class sizes, as I've stated between eight students per class all the way up to a maximum of 18, which still means that they are getting very intensive support for their learning.

Another benefit, Kate, is that we cater for that transition and we prepare them for the type of learning that they will face in high school in terms of delivery of a range of subjects and the academic rigours that are expected within those subjects, probably taking a different approach than they would discover during their final year of primary school.

Kate Harris

It sounds like there's a lot of benefits for a year six student to be considered for a placement within an IEC, instead of just receiving new arrivals support within the primary school setting. Paul, when a student finishes their time at an IEC, the school that they're moving on to the mainstream school receives an exit report. Can you explain what sort of information is in the exit report and how this could help teachers to think about supporting the student when they move into their classrooms?

Paul Fitzgerald

Thanks, Kate. This is a really vexed issue in IECs. Prior to exiting into the mainstream school, most schools will want their students to attend for some sort of school experience. We really strongly recommend that, and most IECs will facilitate that through their transition officer. And it gives the students somewhat of an introduction to mainstream schooling, which often comes as a shock. In regards the exit report it's a very, very important piece of information. As you said Kate, we provide extensive exit report for every subject that that student has covered. And that report includes the work covered in each subject for the student, the student's areas that may require extra support or additional support. It also covers the topics that they have covered throughout the year, and we provide a snapshot of each student's position on the ESL scales. And they are provided to every school prior to that, that student arriving for enrolment and I would strongly recommend that if you are a teacher in a high school that you ask your EAL/D contact teacher for a look at those reports. It really provides some vital information which may assist you in regards to your planning, your teaching and learning cycles and what adjustments and what extra support you may be able to provide for that student. They are very extensive, and I think they really help provide an overview of where that student is upon their entry point into the mainstream schooling. And it should be remembered, Kate, that our IEC students don't exit at the end of the year. Some will, but they exit at any point throughout the year.

So you should be on the lookout, it would be great if teachers were on the lookout for those exit reports because one at the end of term one, you might have 27 students in your class beginning of term two to you might have 29, 2 new ones have appeared, so if you can get hold of that exit report, it really may help you in terms of helping the students engage and helping you in delivering quality lessons for those kids.

Kate Harris

It's great that that information is shared with the next school, that the student is progressing to as I'm sure the teachers would get a lot of benefit out of knowing exactly where the students at, what they've learned, what sort of support they need to put in place and to think about how they can really enhance their teaching and learning programs to best meet the needs of those students. Well, thank you, Paul, for joining us today and for giving us a glimpse into the world of IECs.

Paul Fitzgerald

Thanks Kate. It's been great.

Kate Harris

And thanks everyone for joining us for the EAL/D conversations podcast.

[End of transcript]