An organisation may apply for a per capita grant after it has:

• received an establishment grant
• operated its community language school for more than one year
• met all eligibility requirements in the Community Languages Schools Program Guidelines.

Who can apply?

To apply for a per capita grant, your community organisation must:

• be a not-for-profit organisation incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 or prior legislation
• have a constitution that meets NSW Fair Trading requirements
• demonstrate close links with a community whose first or heritage language is a language other than English
• have the teaching of a community language as one of its main aims
• have a management committee, council or board operating consistently with its constitution
• have people available to teach the community language. All community language teachers must hold a valid NSW Working with Children Check (WWCC). The organisation must verify their WWCC details through the Office of the Children’s Guardian.
• contribute significantly towards the cost of operating the community language school
• meet all other eligibility requirements in the Community Languages Schools Program Guidelines.

Individuals, unincorporated groups, for-profit or commercial organisations, government departments and government agencies cannot apply.

Requirements for classes

Your community language school must:

• provide classes outside school hours
• provide at least 2 hours per class of face-to-face language teaching each week
• operate for at least 35 weeks of the year
• deliver classes using a teaching program
• be open to school-aged students from Kindergarten to Year 12, regardless of their language background.

Overseas full-fee-paying students may attend community language classes but are not eligible for per capita grant funding.

Student attendance requirements

The grant is calculated using the number of eligible students who attend at least 70% of classes in Term 1 of the current calendar year.

Your organisation must:

• maintain complete and accurate student enrolment and attendance records
• ensure parents or carers complete a student enrolment form each year
• provide enrolment and attendance records when requested by the department.

Program staff may monitor an organisation’s records and operations to confirm that it continues to meet the funding requirements.

Minimum enrolment

An organisation must normally have at least 20 school-aged students enrolled.

Applications from the following organisations may be considered case by case:

• organisations operating outside a metropolitan area with fewer than 20 students
• organisations teaching a newly emerging or re-emerging community language that can demonstrate the potential to enrol at least 20 students within 3 years of starting classes.

Distance between community language schools

A community language school must be more than 2 kilometres from another community language school teaching the same language.

An exception may be considered case by case where the organisation can demonstrate that prospective students cannot be accommodated at an existing community language school teaching the same language within 2 kilometres.

When an organisation establishes classes at a new location, students at that location will only be counted for per capita grant funding if the organisation can demonstrate that they cannot be accommodated at an existing location within 2 kilometres of the new location.

What can the grant be used for?

Per capita grant funding may be used for:

• professional development and training
• developing a teaching program
• educational materials, including textbooks and workbooks
• stationery and photocopying for students and teachers
• allowances for people teaching community language classes
• teaching resources
• educational equipment, including language-specific software, interactive whiteboards, tablets, and laptop computers
• expenses associated with administering the community language school.

What can the grant not be used for?

Per capita grant funding cannot be used for:

• major capital purposes, including buildings, repairs, maintenance, or renovations
• religious instruction
• political meetings
• individual or small-group coaching in curriculum areas other than language learning, regardless of the language used to deliver the coaching.

Funding conditions

To receive and retain funding, your organisation must:

• continue to meet the program eligibility requirements
• provide current insurance and other documentation required by the program
• sign and comply with the Community Languages Schools Program Funding Agreement
• inform parents and carers about the Funding Agreement that applies to funded organisations
• maintain complete and accurate enrolment, attendance, and financial records
• use grant funding only for approved purposes
• participate in program monitoring when requested
• meet all financial reporting and acquittal requirements.

Submitting an application does not guarantee funding.

Financial acquittal requirements

If your organisation has previously received funding through the program, it must submit a completed statement of income and expenditure for the previous funding period by 31 March of the current year.

Organisations that do not submit the required financial acquittal by the due date will be ineligible for future Community Languages Schools Program grants.

Use the relevant acquittal form:

• per capita grants of less than $50,000
• per capita grants of $50,000 or more.

Online learning program

The online learning program supports eligible students in NSW who cannot access face-to-face community language classes. This may include students living in regional and remote areas.

An organisation applying for online learning funding must be eligible for a per capita grant in the relevant funding year. It must continue to operate eligible face-to-face classes in addition to its online classes.

Online learning requirements

Organisations must meet all mandatory requirements in the online learning program guidelines.

Organisations delivering online learning must:

• deliver classes as fully online classes
• not use blended delivery, where classes alternate between face-to-face and online learning
• not use hybrid delivery, where online and face-to-face students are taught at the same time
• ensure each online class provides at least 2 hours of language instruction each week for at least 35 weeks of the year
• deliver no more than 60 minutes of synchronous, or live, online instruction on any one day
• deliver the remaining instructional time on another day or through structured offline learning tasks
• have between 3 and 10 students in each online class
• enter each online class as a separate online location in the grant application
• ensure student information entered in the portal is accurate and current
• upload a year-long teaching program for each year level, written in English
• upload a current cyber safety plan
• maintain accurate attendance records for each online class for the full school year
• ensure students attend at least 70% of online classes in Term 1 to be eligible for funding
• provide one form of evidence for each online location in Term 1 as part of the application process, such as a class schedule, attendance summary or screenshot of the class platform homepage
• ensure screenshots do not show student faces or personal information
• only claim funding for students who live and attend school in NSW, including home-schooled students. Students from outside NSW may participate but are not eligible for funding
• ensure online teachers live in Australia and hold a valid NSW Working with Children Check (WWCC). The organisation must verify each teacher’s WWCC details through the Office of the Children’s Guardian.

For more information, please refer to the:

• Program guidelines
• Online learning program guidelines
• Online learning supporting guidance and good practice.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted through the Community Languages Schools Program portal.

Before applying, ensure that:

• your organisation meets all eligibility requirements
• your organisation’s information in the portal is current
• all student enrolment and attendance information is complete and accurate
• all required supporting documents have been uploaded
• any outstanding financial acquittals have been submitted.

Applications close on 30 April each year.

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

For assistance, contact the Community Languages Schools Program at commlang@det.nsw.edu.au or call 02 7814 0527.