Page 11 - Languages Victoria December 2019

Languages Victoria
•At Mirboo North Secondary College, the German program has strong retention rates to Year 12 and an exchange program that helps motivate students to continue through to VCE. In June this year, VCE students from Mirboo North travelled to the Model UN in Melbourne to debate, entirely in German, how to make our cities more sustainable.
• Mt Clear College and Stawell Secondary College both have active Chinese programs. Years 9 and 10 students from both schools have participated in programs, such as Young Leaders to China and the Beijing Summer Camp. Small numbers of second language learners are now completing VCE at Stawell Secondary College. Mt Clear has a number of Chinese First Language students completing VCE and it also provides a Japanese second language program with good retention rates.
• In the North East, small rural schools such as Mt Beauty Secondary College and Corryong College offer VCE classes in Indonesian. Students from Mt Beauty participated in the Model UN in Indonesian this year debating, entirely in Indonesian, how to protect the planet’s oceans.
• Also in the North East, Myrtleford P-12 School provides Italian VCE classes that are attended by students from the neighbouring Catholic school, Marian College, an example of how cross-sectoral collaboration can provide access to languages subjects for more VCE students.
In September 2019, the Victorian Government announced initial funding of more than $82.8 million to support recommendations of the Expert Advisory Panel for Rural and Regional Students.
It includes a range of initiatives to improve educational outcomes for rural and regional students, including languages programs.
The key initiatives which will intersect with languages provision include: •$45.2 million to attract teachers and school leaders to state schools in
rural and regional Victoria.
• This includes $12.5 million that will go towards offering the best teachers
up to $50,000 to re-locate to country areas to fill hard-to-staff positions, as well as a range of non-financial support to assist with relocation, such as help with finding housing. Teachers will also be eligible for retention payments of up to $9,000 per annum in their first three years if they remain in these roles.
• $13.2 million to enable rural and regional students to access VCE revision lectures
• $5.1 million to support rural and regional schools to work in clusters to strengthen curriculum delivery.
This new investment will complement a range of existing initiatives which are already underway.
Volume 23 Number 1 Page 11