NSW Department of Education and Training

Illawarra and South East Region provided information to parents on educational and
career pathways at eight community meetings and four careers expos.
New England region ran various information sessions to support parents in their
understanding of the public education system and DET services. These sessions
included a day to provide information on DET services attended by 132 parents, 3
regional workshops attended by small groups of parents and 10 school visits.
67 schools in the North Coast region have undertaken activities to improve
communication with their communities including provision of information in community
languages, information meetings for newly arrived parents and carers, use of
interpreters and the employment of bilingual teacher aides.
Northern Sydney region conducted education information sessions at 4 schools (112
participants) and at 4 local churches, three community organisations and one local
council (339 participants) for parents from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds.
Northern Sydney conducted information sessions for parents and students from
language backgrounds other than English on vocational education and training
pathways to improve students’ ability to make informed choices for subject and
course selection.
Riverina region conducted parent forums in three schools to provide information
about schooling in NSW, Best Start and NAPLAN with 18 people attending from five
cultural backgrounds.
70 schools in South Western Sydney conducted workshops for Year 10 parents on
subject selection, parenting adolescents, helping with homework, reading with your
child and healthy food choices.
South Western Sydney region ran information meetings for culturally and linguistically
diverse parents on NAPLAN with 632 participants attending.
3232 parents and community members from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds and more than 94 schools were supported by South Western Sydney
through a range of school based initiatives including meetings, information sessions
and workshops.
Sydney region worked closely with 20 schools to support parents and students in the
building of school and community partnerships and provided translated information in
Best Start workshops and NAPLAN information days.
Western NSW presented information sessions on schooling NSW at the W NSW
Parent Expo, at Migrant Support Network meetings and in workshops.
Schools and newly arrived parents in Western NSW were supported in the enrolment
process in numerous locations throughout the region.
Western Sydney region conducted community meetings in partnership with
Blacktown Migrant Resource Centre providing information on transition to school,
Department policies and how to provide parental support for their children’s learning.
Thirteen workshops outlining aspects of schooling in NSW and encouraging parents
to participate in school committees were conducted in Western Sydney for parents
from culturally and linguistically diverse communities with 1159 people attending.
Western Sydney held parent evenings providing information on trade based
traineeships in conjunction with local community partnerships.
The Department’s Teaching and Learning Exchange (TALE) website hosts a parents and
community portal which links to relevant translated resources on other government
websites which assist parents to support their children’s learning. In 2008 the Family-
School and Community Partnerships website was linked providing information in 15
languages at: http://www.familyschool.org.au/
The NSW Department of Education and Training maintained and added to the National
Literacy and Numeracy Week website-based resources in collaboration with other
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