Featuring... - Northern Territory Schools

Page 2Dear Languages Educators,For over two years now we have been waitingfor DEET’s response to the Review of LanguagesLearning in the NT undertaken in 2003by Jim Dellit,. In his report, Connecting Cultures(J. Dellit, May 2003), Dellit acknowledges the NTas a languages-rich environment with the potentialto make the Territory a Leading languageseducation system in Australia. The report considerscurrent provision of languages in schools,NTSOL and ASLC, and specifically commentson the growth of Indigenous languages learningas an area of outstanding potential for the NT.At last, with release of the NATIONAL PLANFOR LANGUAGES EDUCATION IN AUSTRA-LIAN SCHOOLS 2005 – 2008, we are seeingsome action! The four-year Plan is intended asa basis for a shared commitment to action by allStates and Territories, and all have signed off onit.In the NT, Catherine Greene has recently takenup her new position as Languages Project Manager,with a brief over an eighteen-month periodto develop an operational model for the DarwinLanguage Centre and Alice Springs LanguageCentre, and an NT strategic plan for Languageslearning. We welcome Cath as an experiencededucator with extensive project managementexperience at Sanderson High and Anzac HillHigh School in Alice Springs, and as a newmember of LTANT.By now, your school should have received acopy of the National Plan. You can alsodownload a copy of the National Plan from theMCEETYA website at http://www.mceetya.edu.au/public/languageeducation.htmI encourage you to familiarise yourself with themain ideas of this Plan. The NT governmenthas committed to its implementation, and as languageseducators it is in our interest to be ableto contribute to informed debate on future directionsfor languages in the NT.It is undoubtedly a future of change, of ICT asan integral tool for languages learning, Interac-tive Distance Learning models, and expansionof ‘traditional’ languages (for example, German,Indonesian, Japanese) learning to include agrowing list of Indigenous Australian Languagesin programs aimed at languages maintenance,revival or awareness.We welcome members’ comments on the NationalPlan or future directions for Languages forinclusion in the October Newsletter. Furthermore,there are plenty of actual examples of excellentlanguages learning delivery happeningnow in NT schools, so hit the keyboards and thedigi camera and share what you are doing inyour school with us all, please!LTANT Sunset drinks on the Nightcliff ForeshoreTuesday 16th August, 5pm till darkPlease join your LTANT executive and LanguageRepresentatives at the Nightcliff Foreshore(see map) to meet some new faces,greet some old ones, and celebrate the launchof our new website for LTANT. A welcome drink(champagne, beer or soft drink) and nibbles areprovided. Partners are welcome, and there isplenty of space for kids to run around.Exchange and visiting teachers from Indonesia,Japan and China will also be there.See you next Tuesday around 5pm on the foreshore!Best RegardsRuth RynehartLanguage skills and cultural sensitivitywill be the currency of the [new] worldorder.Major General Peter Cosgrove