Adelaide Secondary School of English

Coordinates: 34°53′10″S 138°33′58″E / 34.8862°S 138.5660°E / -34.8862; 138.5660

Adelaide Secondary School of English is co-located with the School of Languages 5 km west of the city of Adelaide.^[2]

It is the only Government School for permanent, temporary and overseas full fee paying secondary students aged between 12 and 18 years who are newly arrived in South Australia, providing opportunities for students to develop their English skills.

Curriculum

Students learn English through a range of curriculum subjects and senior students are given the opportunity to gain SACE credit for completing the PLP (Personal Learning Plan) and ESL across the curriculum.

Subjects

English as a Second Language (ESL) Maths Society and Environment Health and Personal Development Science Information Technology (computing) Physical Education The Arts Home Economics Construction Technology (woodwork) Personal Learning Program (PLP) Personal Learning and Wellbeing (PLW) Courses

Students can enrol for: 10-80 week Intensive Secondary English Course (ISEC)

Learner Pathways

Students English language capabilities are assessed on enrolment to determine the most appropriate class and level. They are placed in one of 4 levels: Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced and Transition, depending on their written and oral communication skills and previous education. Students usually spend 1 -2 terms in each level. Students with a higher proficiency in speaking, reading and writing may only study at the school for 20 weeks at Advanced and Transition levels.

Where possible, students are placed in junior or senior classes according to their age.

There are 3 learning pathways in the school:

Pathway A is for students who have had minimal or severely disrupted schooling before their arrival in Australia. Students in this pathway can spend up to 8 terms in the school. Pathway B is for students who need to spend an extra term at Foundation and Intermediate levels to consolidate their literacy and numeracy skills. Students in this pathway spend up to 6 terms in the school. Pathway C is for students whose schooling has not been disrupted and is a relative standard to Australian Education. Students in this pathway will spend up to 4 terms in the school depending on their level of English competence. Assessment and Reporting

Students are continually assessed in all learning areas and a written report is sent to parents/caregivers at the end of each level. An ESL scale reflecting the students’ English language proficiency is allocated on enrolment and at the end of each level. These are recorded on the report showing the students’ progress in language development. Parent/Teacher interviews are held each term for some classes.

Transition

On the completion of the Transition level, most students transfer to their local government high school and into year levels recommended by their teachers.

Students spend up to 3 days at their selected high school during their final term for orientation and enrolment.

An Exit report is sent to the new school. This report outlines the student’s level of English proficiency and other relevant information to ensure a smooth transition.

Facilities

Originally a large co-educational government high school catering for up to 1,200 students, the school is situated on an attractive, well-maintained site with buildings placed between a large number of mature trees, gardens and lawned areas in the inner western suburbs of Adelaide. There are two main "wings" (east wing and west wing) comprising teaching classrooms, science laboratories, computing suites, teacher preparation offices, admin offices and meeting rooms. Other buildings used by the school are scattered in between the two wings. These house further classrooms, teacher preparation areas, home economics and technology studies teaching areas, a student services centre and an art room.

A large drama room in the east wing has been converted into a multi-purpose room, housing an interactive whiteboard and IT equipment, stage lighting, sound system and conference tables and chairs. A second conference room, recently re-furbished, is attached to the student services centre. A re-furbished air-conditioned gymnasium and canteen facility are located centrally along with the staff-room and resource centre which houses a teacher reference area and book room. To the south is a well-maintained oval located close to the gymnasium. Sheds for the ground maintenance equipment are on the perimeter of the ovals. All classrooms and buildings managed by the school are old (most built in the 1950s) but well-maintained. All buildings have been recently painted both externally and internally. Refurbishment, cleaning and maintenance work is done on an ongoing basis. There are 2 buildings in the centre and western boundary of the campus. The central building, previously a technology (metal work) centre, has been refurbished and now houses the school's well stocked Resource Centre which caters to the needs of staff and students within the school. The building on the western boundary (previously an auto-workshop) has been rebuilt as a centre for youth by Multicultural Youth SA (MYSA).

The School of Languages (SOL) shares the site and has use of the main admin offices in the northern end of the west wing dedicated to their use. Language classes are held for students across the Adelaide metropolitan area in the evenings on most nights during the week. The classrooms in the western wing are shared for this purpose. The Ethnic Schools Board also uses some office space in this building. Three community schools (Vietnamese, Somali and Kannada) have an agreement to use classrooms for community schooling during the weekends.

Student and staff toilets are in both the east and west wings, with further staff toilet facilities in the staffroom. The School of Languages and MYSA have their own toilet facilities. All are cleaned regularly and are well maintained.

In the last 5 years there have been considerable changes to the school’s facilities. This has included the refurbishment of the art rooms, home economics, the drama room (now referred to as the multi purpose room) and gymnasium. Work on the school grounds has included the development of the quadrangle to provide more shade and seating for students, the establishment of the Peace Garden and the Kitchen Garden. Additional trees for shade and native trees and shrubs have also been planted around the school.

References