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ALaN WA Newsletter – August 2014

Welcome to edition 13 of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Network of Western Australia Newsletter!

Views expressed by contributors to the newsletter are their own and, unless expressly stated, do not reflect the opinions of their employers/organisations.

This contents page links individually to each article enabling you to go immediately to those of your choice. Alternatively, if you go to the main blog link, you can access the articles by scrolling down the page.

We welcome your comments and contributions to our newsletter. If you are an Adult Literacy/Numeracy practitioner in Western Australia or indeed, anywhere in the world, we invite you to subscribe and comment. If you are interested in joining the GoogleGroup for our network, please visit our “How to join” page and complete the online form.

Contents

1. WA Adult Literacy Council AGM Information

2. Community focused activities for Initial CGEA learners

3. New numeracy workshop offering

4. Making our voices heard

5. New ALaN Network projects 2014-2015

6. WA curriculum update August 2014

7. Useful links and resources – August 2014

8. Conferences update August 2014

 

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WA Adult Literacy Council Annual General Meeting 2014

The WAALC AGM will take place on Tuesday 12th August 2014. See details below.

When:            Tuesday 12 August 2014, 5.15 pm – 6.05 pm
Where:          Room above Bentley Pines Restaurant, Bentley Campus, Polytechnic West, Hayman Road, Bentley

Followed by:

  • Games Teachers Play – literacy related fun activities from 6.05 pm – 6.40 pm

Queries:              info@waalc.org.au

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Community focused activities for Initial CGEA learners

The Centacare Employment and Training course “Skills for Education and Employment” (SEE) caters for adult learners from a wide range of ages and diverse backgrounds. Currently many of our clients include people with limited schooling who may be learning to read or write for the first time.

Clients attend classes seeking to improve their English and obtain the skills and language necessary to find a job. Their learning is often affected by factors such as:

  • dealing with trauma and loss due to fleeing from war
  • limited literacy in their own language
  • anxiety and depression
  • separation from family members
Many students, despite having perhaps lived in Australia for some time, do not interact with those from outside their own   language groups other than during their time in class. Our trainers often develop learning programmes that aim to enhance learners’ community involvement and help them to interact with a wider range of cultures. Centacare Init 1

 

Centacare Init 2Centacare Init 3
One of these programmes enabled students to work alongside Samaritan’s Purse, a community organisation that is responsible for “Operation Christmas Child”. Operation Christmas Child delivers shoeboxes full of essential items and gifts to children living in impoverished conditions. Centacare Init 4

The programme consisted of a number of activities and stages. The teacher created tasks to cover aspects of the Initial and Introductory CGEA curriculum. The activities included:

  • Reading about what to pack in the boxes: VU21286 Engage with short simple texts to participate in the community
  • Shopping for items using a donated budget: VU21291 Recognise numbers and money in simple, highly familiar situations
  • Reading a class book about the shopping excursion: VU21286 Engage with short simple texts to participate in the community
  • Graphing amounts of money spent in each store: VU21312 Work with and interpret statistical information in simple, familiar texts
  • Volunteering at the Operation Christmas Child processing centre
  • Writing a recount about the volunteering experience: VU21290 Create short simple texts to participate in the community
  • Writing a thank you email to the Processing Centre Supervisor: VU21290 Create short simple texts to participate in the community

Students’ recounts were then compiled and displayed in the lunch-room. This gave the students the opportunity to have their work ‘published’ for other classes to view and provided a conversation point around the coffee table at lunch time.

The project was a great success as it enabled students to contribute something towards the community, interact with new people and work together as a team. The supervisor at the processing plant was kind enough to respond to each student’s email, giving them a sense of pride in their efforts.

Other classes have participated in a variety of community projects which I am happy to write about in the future.

If you wish to know further details about this or other projects we have done, feel free to ask questions through the Google Groups CGEA Network.

 

Claire Willis

 

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New numeracy workshop offering

Practical Strategies for Teaching Adult Numeracy Workshop with Beth Marr

This two day adult numeracy workshop is designed for Literacy Language and Numeracy (LLN) practitioners interested in learning how to strengthen and/or diversify their numeracy teaching skills. It will be aimed at a mix of experienced teachers with mathematical backgrounds and literacy teachers wishing to learn about numeracy. See Practical_Strategies_ Numeracy_flyer_Sept for more information and registration information.

Cost: $198.00 (Lunches provided)

Date: Wednesday 3rd  and Thursday 4th September 2014

Time: 9.00 am – 4.30 pm

Venue: Conference Room, DTWD (WestOne Services)

 

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Making our voices heard!

We have increasingly good opportunities to input into consultations and resource development through online platforms, check out the links below to make your voice heard!

1. With the demise of the WELL program and its replacement by the Industry Skills Fund there are ongoing opportunities for input through the consultation process that will continue until this is fully rolled out. It is really important for experienced WELL people to have say in this to try and ensure that the ISF is a worthy replacement. You can access the discussion paper and provide feedback through the Industry Skills Fund page

2. There is currently a great opportunity for input into new content for the “Building Strength with Numeracy” resources that Beth Marr will be developing for VALBEC. The Service Skills Australia website has more information in their “Taking the Lead Newsletter”

 

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New ALaN Network projects 2014-2015

The Adult Literacy and Numeracy Network  continues to be supported by the Department of Training and Workforce Development (DTWD) with the task of fostering collaboration and professional learning between adult educators in Western Australia.

Network facilitation

Jo Hart will offer support to the online functions of the ALaN Network including acting as editor for this Edublog ALaN WA. Her expertise in online learning will continue to offer us access to new ways to collaborate as professionals and to use these tools with our students.

Claire Willis takes over from Dani Murray as membership manager, offering assistance to practitioners to gain and maintain access to our members only facilities and to make the best use of them.

CAVSS Leaders Projects

A new initiative this year will be the development of a CAVSS Leaders Network. C. Y. O’Connor Institute of Technology and Durack Institute of Technology have offered to start us off with some products to share with the objective of creating much wider understanding of the CAVSS model across organisations and how to make it work.

Adult numeracy projects

The new adult numeracy projects build on the great start we made in 2013 and early 2014.

Phil Hart will maintain the Edublog What’s in a number?  that resulted from our 2013 round of projects. This provides us with a dedicated numeracy and mathematics space to share teaching and learning ideas online as well as access the great work done over the last two years.

Beth Marr will continue her work in offering a range of professional learning options that develops teacher skills related to using collaborative learning in the context of teaching adults numeracy. This will include:

  • A repeat of the three block series piloted in 2014 Collaborative Numeracy
  • A two day workshop for those unable to commit to a longer course see item 2
  • creation of videos and a PD leaders guide based on the pilot workshop and designed for in house use by RTOs
  • working with Centacare Employment and Training staff to develop an adaptation of collaborative activities to support numeracy development for low level ESL students.
  • Delivering an initial Practical Strategies workshop in  Geraldton (co-funded by Durack Institute of Technology will partially fund  for their teachers to avoid the cost of sending teachers to Perth).

Other projects

Gerard Laumen from Challenger Institute of Technology will share his experiences in using free Google applications with students building literacy by creating a Google Circle focused on this topic.

Watch the newsletter and the Google Group for more information on all these projects in the next few months.

Cheryl Wiltshire
ALaN Network Coordinator

 

 

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Curriculum update – August 2014

52426WA Certificate I in Entry to General Education will expire 30 September 2014. The new curriculum has been drafted and has been submitted to the Training Accreditation Council.   Email cheryl.wiltshre@dtwd.wa.gov.au if you need a draft.

Course in Applied Vocational Study Skills 52626WA (CAVSS) is now implemented with new Business Rules available. The previous CAVSS course has now expired so make sure that you are using (enrolling students in) the new course.

52379 Course In Underpinning Skills for Industry Qualifications (USIQ) has been re-accredited, and the Business Rules are now  available.

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Useful links and resources August 2014

Service Skills Australia has a new webpage “Taking the Lead” which it describes as a “one-stop shop” for information on the development of core LLN skills in the service industries.

Several of the Industry Skills Councils have developed resources relating to Foundation Skills in their industry areas. These may be useful to anyone delivering LLN in an industry context eg CAVSS, USIQ or WELL (soon to be replaced by the new Industry Skills Fund). They include the following free resources:

Construction and Property Services – Foundation Skills Resources for CPC08 and CPP07

Agrifood Skills Australia – Two LLN resources “From the Ground Up” and “The Get Real Factor”

Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council – a series of videos on LLN Awareness & Foundation Skills Implementation

Government Skills Australia – a series of videos on Foundation Skills in a government and community context

 

 

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Conferences Update – August 2014

Australia

NB there is no Western Australian Adult Literacy Council state conference this year see the earlier article in this newsletter for information about the AGM. The next WAALC conference is planned for April 2015.

The 2014 conference of the International Applied Linguistics Association is being hosted by the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia and takes place from the 10th to 15th of August in Brisbane.

This year’s ACAL Conference “Literacy: a learning spiral for life” is on October 2nd to 4th at Surfers Paradise in Queensland. Keep up to date by registering an expression of interest on the ACAL website.

Australian Council of TESOL Associations – International Conference 2014 with the theme “Meeting the Challenge” takes place from September 30 – October 3 2014 in Melbourne. For information available to date check out the website.

A little further afield

Coming up in New Zealand the 37th New Zealand Literacy Association Conference “Surfing the Literacy Wave” in Tauranga 28th September to 1st October

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ALaN WA Newsletter – April 2014

Welcome to edition 12 of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Network of Western Australia Newsletter!

Views expressed by contributors to the newsletter are their own and, unless expressly stated, do not reflect the opinions of their employers/organisations.

This contents page links individually to each article enabling you to go immediately to those of your choice. Alternatively, if you go to the main blog link, you can access the articles by scrolling down the page.

We welcome your comments and contributions to our newsletter. If you are an Adult Literacy/Numeracy practitioner in Western Australia or indeed, anywhere in the world, we invite you to subscribe and comment. If you are interested in joining the GoogleGroup for our network, please visit our “How to join” page and complete the online form.

Contents

1. ThingLink! Linking to content from images

A neat online tool for using images with links to further information

2. New time for the WAALC conference

WAALC is piloting a new time of year for the WAALC conference

3. Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award

A national focus award in the Australian National Training Awards

4. WA curriculum update April 2014

Re-accreditation activities

5. PD coming up/continuing

PD available through the network and beyond

6. Some conferences this year

Update on conference information for 2014