Dear Member Schools and Organisations

Newsletter No.1

31 January 2014

Dear Member Schools and Organisations

Happy New Year to all of you and a welcome back for another school year. I hope that you all had a good rest over the summer holidays and are recharged and refreshed for another exciting year ahead.

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your support to the Federation during 2013. We had great attendance at the Premier's Harmony Dinner, our Annual Dinner and the State Conference for Community Language Schools. Your support was truly outstanding and we have achieved the outcomes because of your willingness to participate and attend important events to promote your language and communities.

Secondly, it was a pleasure to receive so many invitations to the end of year functions and presentations. The Federation management committee and staff tried to attend as many as possible. I truly enjoyed seeing the students perform and achieve recognition for their hard work. We were extremely busy but managed to visit Greek, Chinese, Polish, Swedish, Tamil, Arabic, Tongan, Turkish, Czech and Slovak community language schools. Well done to everyone.

Community Language Schools Program (CLSP) Funding

We have been in contact with the CLS Program and the applications for the Per Capita Grant, Special Projects and Establishment Grants will be opening on the Monday 3 February 2014 and closing on Wednesday 30 April.

Please take the time to open the application grants as early as possible. Do not leave it to the last few weeks.

Ensure that you enter the students details correctly by giving the same name used in in the mainstream school. Otherwise it will affect the level of funding your school receives because incorrect information will mean the student will not be funded. If you have any issues or problems contact the education officers or the CLS Program for assistance.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held on

26 February 2014 at Marrickville West Public School. Details have been sent to your schools. We need a strong and vibrant committee with lots of diversity. If you have time and would like to contribute to the Federation by joining the management committee it would be a pleasure to have you join. We meet usually once a month and need your help at the key events organised and hosted by the Federation.

First Aid Course

The NSWFCLS is organising First Aid Course/s with St John for the community language schools. The courses have been revamped to include emergency procedures with CPR.

As part of a community language schools responsibilities and duty of care, it is highly recommended that your school has someone with basic First Aid skills. The certificate is valid for three years.

The course content has been redeveloped and this means there are fewer limited places. Classes will be smaller and there will be only 18 spots for teachers. To secure your place, please pay as this is the confirmation of your attendance. As has happened in previous years it is on first in basis but additional First Aid Course will be arranged if there is demand.

First Aid Course details:

Provide Basic Emergency Life Support – Validity of certificate: 3 years by St John Ambulance

Date: Sunday, 6 April

Time: 9.00am – 4.30pm

Venue: Marrickville West Public School, in

A Block

Cost: $100 for members and

$120 for non members

Tea, Coffee, Juice & Water will be available.

Contact Alex Di Prinzio for further details of what to bring and wear.

Student's Short Film Competition

There will be a short film competition for all community language schools. It will focus on the Anzac Spirit and will prepare students communities for the Centenary of the First War World.

Your schools / communities participation is very important. There will be significant prize money, to be given and the winners and other short film entrants films of high merit will be displayed on the Anzac Memorial website. It will lift the profile of your language if you win or compete.

The NSW Government and Anzac Memorial Trust are very supportive of this short film competition and it is our interest to have as many entries as possible.

The short film competition details are with the attachments.

Winners will be announced at the 2014 Annual Dinner.

Sydney Children's Festival - 30 March 2014

The Sydney Children's Festival has approached the Federation and asked for our participation in in assisting with the organising of the festival. It will be held on Sunday 30th of March in Belmore Park in the city as part of Multicultural March. We already have had a number of expressions of interest from a number of schools/ organisations that would like to perform at this event.

I strongly urge your schools / communities that have folkloric dance or singing groups to participate in this inaugural event to raise awareness of your language and culture during Multicultural March.

Contact Alex Di Prinzio in our office for more details. Groups for the parade or performances should complete the Expression of Interest form on the Children's Festival Organisation website:

Premier's Harmony Dinner

As part of Multicultural March the Premier of NSW Barry O'Farrell will again host the Harmony Dinner.

Due to the ever increasing popularity of the event, this year the venue has moved to Rosehill Gardens Racecourse and will be held on Thursday April 10.

The NSW Federation of Community Language Schools last year organised 8 tables (80 people) to attend. We were by far the biggest group to attend with 32 language groups present. We were mentioned a number of times by the Premier and this enabled us to raise the profile of the community language school education by your supporting and attending this event.

Please show your support by attending in large numbers again. Ensure your school budgets for this event. If every school and language group sends a representative or two we will again make our community school voice heard.

More details will be available soon.

2014 Annual Dinner

The Premier Barry O'Farrell will be our special Guest of Honour at our annual dinner on Saturday 28 June 2014 at the Cyprus Community Club in Stanmore.

We are looking for a number of folkloric dance groups to perform on the evening. So if your dance group is available and would like to perform, please you contact our office and leave some details for the committee to consider.

There will be prize giving for the short film competition and Excellence Service Awards for outstanding community members.

See attachments

2014 State Community Languages Schools Conference

The state community language schools conference is being planned for Saturday 4 October. So please put this in your school diary. Last year's conference was an outstanding success with 410 attendees.

We will be looking for presenters with good English speaking skills to conduct workshops on great teaching strategies. If you know or can recommend someone, please let the Federation know by contacting Alex Di Prinzio in the office.

Professional Development Training

There are three Education Officers available for professional development training. Professional development training is very important to ensure your teachers are trained in teaching methodologies and classroom strategies.

Training can be arranged at your school site, for language specific groups or at our location.

If your teachers require additional support, please contact the Education Officers and arrange this as soon as possible.

Membership and Insurance renewals

You will all receive soon soft and hard copies of the renewal forms. Please ensure that you return the forms completed with your payment before the 31st of March 2014 so your school is insured for the whole year from the renewal date to the expiry date. Every year we need to update your school’s details so please take some time to answer all the questions. All information is important for our office in order to estimate costs and number of delegates as well as for statistical purposes. The Federation needs all numbers when lobbying on the members behalf.

Opening ceremony at the 2013 State Conference

for Community Language Schools at the University of Sydney.

Dates for Your School Diary for 2014

Grant Applications Open - Tuesday 3 February

Grant Applications Close - Wednesday 30 April

Federation's AGM - Wednesday 26 February

First Aid Course – Sunday, 6 April

Sydney Children's Festival - Sunday 30 March

Premier's Harmony Dinner - Thursday 10 April

Annual Dinner - Saturday 28 June

State CLS Conference - Saturday 4 October

Kind Regards

Albert Vella

President-NSWFCLS