English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Students

• Newly arrived students – new arrivals programs provide intensive EAL tuition in a range of settings.
• Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program – provides remote support for rural schools using virtual conferencing and digital tools.
• EAL learners in mainstream schools – information about funding, data, support and advice for mainstream schools with EAL learners.
• Support for refugee students – links to support for schools in meeting the needs of students from refugee backgrounds.

Schools

• EAL Regional Program Officers – support schools in their region to develop and implement effective EAL programs.
• Multicultural education aides – support EAL learners to participate in schooling and build communication between schools and families.
• Interpreting and translating – services are provided free, within guidelines, to government schools.
• Panorama – school principals and their delegates can access dashboards which identify EAL and Likely Refugee Background students and show teacher judgement data against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL. Data is drawn from data uploaded to CASES21.

Teachers

• EAL Resources Directory diagram (PDF, 509KB)(opens in a new window) is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the resources provided by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the Department of Education (DE) to support schools in implementing the Victorian Curriculum F-10 English as an Additional Language (EAL) Accessible version: EAL Resources Directory diagram (DOCX,509KB)(opens in a new window).
• Resources for EAL teachers – resources to support EAL teachers and schools to plan and deliver effective programs.
• No English - Don't Panic – a handbook for teachers of EAL in their first few weeks at school in Australia.
• No English 2 questions and answers – provides answers to some of the concerns primary classroom teachers may have about the English language development of newly arrived EAL learners, and about providing appropriate programs for them.
• Professional learning – links to providers of professional learning for EAL teachers.
• Interactive EAL Effective Practice Guide (PDF, 1.25MB) – a series of videos and discussion prompts highlighting one Victorian secondary school's implementation of an explicit pedagogy for the teaching of disciplinary literacy.

Curriculum and program planning

• Curriculum and program planning – documents for Prep to Year 10. Information about years 11 to 12, can be found at Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
• Guidance for planning and implementing EAL programs(opens in a new window) provides advice to schools about planning and implementing effective programs for students learning EAL.
• Plurilingual awareness – information and resources to support teaching and understanding of the Cultural and Plurilingual Awareness strand of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL.
• Learning through languages: plurilingual strategies for primary classrooms – case studies showing how primary teachers in Victoria incorporated plurilingual strategies into their teaching practice.

Assessment and reporting

• Assessing English language proficiency(opens in a new window) – resources to support teachers to assess students' English language proficiency.
• Victorian Curriculum F-10 EAL Reporting resource(opens in a new window) – resources to support teachers understand and report on EAL students developing proficiency before they reach the achievement standards.
• Pathways and transitions(opens in a new window) – resources to support teachers understand and make judgements about EAL student transition across the EAL levels and pathways, or on the transition from the EAL curriculum to the English curriculum.
• The EAL Developmental Continuum P-10 (DOCX, 241KB) is an archived version of the continuum that was in use to the end of 2020.
• Understanding, assessing and reporting on English language proficiency – resources to support understanding the likely pathways students take to develop English language proficiency assessment and making judgements about students’ transition between pathways on the curriculum, and from the EAL curriculum to the English curriculum.

EAL in Victorian government schools

EAL annual reports – annual reports on the provision of EAL programs in Victorian government schools.

For a brief history of assistance to students from language backgrounds other than English in Victorian government schools (1960 to 2006) please read these resources:

• Lessons learned: A history of migrant education in Victorian government schools 1960-2006 (PDF, 6.98MB)
• Lessons learned: A history of migrant education in Victorian government schools 1960-2006 (DOCX, 4.04MB)