Observation Task 7:

1. At Karratha Senior High School, there is an ESL program focused on general English, but

evolving towards academic English for the upper years of the high school education.

2. There are 11 co-ed students enrolled in years 7 and 8. The students are mainly from South

East Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, one student is from

Nepal and another student is from Russia.

3. The syllabus used is aligned with the EAL/D document from the department of education.

This document guides the teaching, learning, monitoring and assessment of the students in

this course. The syllabus that has ben created is very loose. There are certain language

features that need to be addressed, but there are segments of the syllabus dedicated to the

needs of the student. My mentor teacher does a lot of diagnostic work to test student

strength and weaknesses, and plans around them. In this way, the program will be

different each year to cater to the needs of the different groups.

4. There are 2 different text books that can be used, a file on the school shared drive with

resources sorted into language features and recommended online resources such as One

Stop English.

5. Students are selected for this program with evidence that their L1 language is not English.

In this regional town, there are large amounts of immigrants who pass through who have

English as their second language, but are capable of reading, writing, listening and

speaking to a high academic level. For this reason, the students will sit a diagnostic test

before they are admitted entrance into this program.

6. As mentioned before, students are assessed using the EAL/D progress maps distributed by

the Department of Education. Students keep a portfolio of work, which shows the

progression of their learning, and works as evidence as to which level they are currently

sitting at. This is an ongoing process, which is very useful for the students as they can

visually see how they are progressing.

7. Karratha Senior High School is a government-funded school. The ESL program has a

separate budget to the English department and spending is at the discretion of my mentor

teacher and his head of learning area. The program is suitably funded, and will be growing

in the next few years to include another upper school ESL class as well as a 7-10 program

based entirely around students with English as an additional dialect, due to the large

demographic of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students.

8. There have not been any volunteers involved in the program other than the support of

parents throughout the year.

9. Since Karratha is a regional school, professional development (PD) in the area is minimal.

If there is appropriate PD in Perth, we are able to attend with the approval of our principal.

Alternatively, using a program called SIDE, we can attend PD online.

10. I would like to teach in this institution as I have already built a rapport with the students

here and believe that it is a stand-out program for the students in this area. There is a great

community feel and it is important to improve the quality of living for the immigrants and

Indigenous people in Karratha.