Community Language Schools

The Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI) provi​des support to eligible not-for-profit community organisations to teach lan​​guages other than​​ English ​for students from Kindergarten to Year 12 out ​of ​school hours.

Community language schools in Western Australia can access:

  • development support
  • a free professional learning program
  • the Community Language Schools WA website
  • the Community Languages Collection at the State Library of WA
  • grants for new and established schools to support administration and operations.​
C​ommunity language school funding currently supports 47 community language schools teaching 28 languages to more than 6320 students.

Community ​​Lan​​guage School gr​​​a​nts

Funding is available to support community language school admin​istration and operati​ons.

Community language schools that are new to the program must contact OMI to confirm their eligibility. 

Phone: 61 8 6552 1603

Email: communitylanguages@omi.wa.gov.au

2020 funding round now closed

The funding round to support community language schools in 2020 closed at 4.00pm Monday 9 March 2020. 

Applicants will be notified in writing of funding outcomes in May 2020.

Pathways to Improvement Program

The Pathways to Improvement Program (PIP) is a development program for community language schools. The PIP has been developed to improve and maintain quality language teaching and learning. The PIP helps administrators, teachers, parents, community members and students understand what makes a good community language school and quality language program.

To apply for funding in 2021​, community language schools must achieve Stage 1—Registration of the PIP delivered by the Australian Institute of Management Western Austr​alia (AIMWA).

Schools that achieve the registration stage will qualify for future community language school funding, subject to maintaining their PIP portfolio documentation. The annual application process requires schools to provide updated school information, student enrolment details, and budget. All other information is gathered through the PIP.

For further information please visit the Community Language Schools WA website.

For questions related to the PIP email moya.communitylanguageswa@gmail.com

Professional Learning Program

The Professional Learning Program (PLP) is provided free of charge to all teachers and administrators of WA’s community language schools.

The PLP workshops are practical and interactive and give school staff the opportunity to network with peers from the sector.

Community language schools that are not funded by OMI are also able to access the PLP.

For information on course dates and bookings visit the Community Language Schools WA website.

Community Languages WA

The Community Language Schools WA website is a destination for information, resources, networking and collaboration for community language teachers and administrators. It is an excellent resource for the sector and encourages community languages schools to contribute stories and experiences.

Community Languages Collection

The State Library of W​estern Australia (SLWA) houses an extensive collection of teaching materials and resources for more than 40 languages. The collection has been made available to language teachers, particularly those from the community languages sector, through OMI.

The Community Languages Collection comprises a range of hardcopy, digital, audio and visual resources that can be used in classes or in the development of lesson plans, ensuring students are receiving the best possible language education.

The State Library of WA has also developed Teacher Resources for use by community language teachers. The Community Languages Collection is available at the State Library of WA, Perth Cultural Centre, 25 Francis Street, Northbridge.

Templates

The following templates may be useful for your school's administration, and to submit with your funding application or final report where requested:

Page reviewed 20 August 2020