For nearly a decade, the Armidale EAL/D (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) Homework Centre’s hard-working volunteers have helped students from non-English-speaking backgrounds improve their language skills.
Their dedication was recognised at the 2018 New England / Northern Inland volunteer awards on Friday afternoon, when they were named Team of the Year.
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“It was a huge honour,” coordinator Fay Peris said. “We were pitted against 109 other nominations, with some very good nominations amongst them.”
The Centre received the Alwyn Jones Community Award earlier in the year.
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About 30 students a week come to the Centre at the Drummond Memorial Public School.
Some are the children of international university students, speaking Arabic, Tagalog, Spanish, German, Polish, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, and African languages at home.
“The university attracts students from all over the world, and some of those bring their families with them,” Fay said.
The newest arrivals are Kurdish Kumanji-speaking refugees from Iraq and Syria.
“Refugee students have a long road ahead of them,” Fay said. It can take them twice as long to master academic English as other international students. “This support can make all the difference to them.”
The children get to speak with a native English teacher for an hour and a half.
“That can be more time spent speaking and listening in English one on one than they might get with their own classroom teacher in the whole week,” Fay said.
Many of those 30 volunteers are teachers or university lecturers, some retired; some are university students; and some are working people from different walks of life.
“Some say it’s the best time of their week,” Fay said.
“I try to make it a one-to-one relationship, and with the same volunteer each week, so they really build up a strong working partnership. The volunteer gets to know the child, what their strengths are, and where they need more time and effort.”
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If they don't have homework, the Centre also offers other activities that encourage speaking and listening, numeracy, and literacy, so they can practice what they're learning at school, and build up their skills.
The Refugee Homework Centre, as it was then called, was set up in 2009 by Northern Settlement Services and Armidale Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement, as a response to the Sudanese refugees arriving at that time.
Now the Centre is funded mainly by Northern Settlement Services, yearly donations from UNE, and grants from other funding bodies.
“We’re always looking for more volunteers!” Fay said.
If you are interested, contact Northern Settlement Services on 6771 3975. You must undergo a Working with Children check and a police check, but do not need any teaching experience.
Fay wanted to thank the Centre for Volunteering, who organised the awards; the schools, who refer their children; the parents, who transport their children to the Homework Centre and pick them up; and Northern Settlement Services, for their great support.
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Nicholas Fuller
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
