Alignment to system and school priorities

This resource has been designed to respond to clearly articulated system priorities. It aligns with Closing the Gap commitments by supporting improved outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander learners and reflects Our Plan for NSW Public Education through its focus on equity, high expectations, and strengthened professional practice. The resource also draws on the Early Years Learning Framework to ensure culturally responsive, play-based, and developmentally appropriate approaches, while also embedding the EAL/D School Evaluation Framework to guide effective support for multilingual and multidialectal learners. Together, these priorities shape a coherent, evidence-informed resource that supports schools to enact system expectations in practical, meaningful ways.

Alignment to the School Excellence Framework

There are explicit links to show how the resource supports practices clearly aligned to the School Excellence Framework (SEF):

Learning Wellbeing: Individual Learning Needs

Providing clear, culturally informed guidance that supports schools to recognise, understand, and respond to the diverse linguistic profiles of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students. The resource emphasises accurate identification of learner needs through culturally responsive enrolment practices, targeted assessment using the EAL/D Learning Progressions, and equitable access to curriculum for students who speak Aboriginal English or additional Aboriginal languages. The resource promotes collaborative partnerships with families and community, ensuring that each student’s identity, home language, dialects, and cultural background are valued and used to inform personalised support. This document directly supports schools to meet SEF expectations for knowing, valuing, and responding to every learner.

Learning Curriculum: Differentiation

Supporting teachers to recognise and respond to the diverse linguistic starting points of Aboriginal English speakers. It provides guidance for identifying students’ home languages and dialects, whilst understanding the linguistic features of Aboriginal English, and using the EAL/D Learning Progressions to determine each learner’s level of support. By emphasising culturally responsive enrolment conversations and strengths-based assessment, the resource equips teachers to tailor instruction, scaffold academic language, and design learning experiences that build on student’s existing linguistic strengths. This ensures that speakers of Aboriginal English receive differentiated, equitable access to curriculum content and the explicit language support required to thrive in Standard Australian English.

Leading Educational Leadership: Community Engagement

Positioning schools as active partners with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families, communities, and local organisations, the resource supports leaders to foster trust and strengthen community connections, while emphasising culturally responsive enrolment practices. Collaboration with AEOs, Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers (ACLOs), the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultation Group (AECG), and community members, promotes shared decision-making that honours family voice and linguistic identity. Schools are guided to build respectful, reciprocal relationships and to recognise Aboriginal English as a legitimate and valued home language or dialect.

Demonstrates the diverse learning needs of all learners

For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students who speak Aboriginal English, developing proficiency in Standard Australian English is essential for equitable access to curriculum learning, particularly in areas such as literacy and numeracy. Teachers play a critical role in distinguishing between language diversity and language or learning difficulty, and in providing explicit, inclusive teaching that supports students to navigate both dialects confidently across different contexts. Because NSW public schools operate primarily in Standard Australian English, speakers of Aboriginal English may benefit from targeted support that builds on their existing linguistic strengths while developing the bilingual and/or multilingual skills needed to participate fully in classroom learning. Understanding Aboriginal English as a legitimate dialect enables teachers to design explicit and inclusive language learning opportunities that affirm students’ identities and support their development of Standard Australian English.

Alignment to relevant department policy, procedures and frameworks

This resource aligns with the NSW Department of Education’s Aboriginal Education Policy, the Partnership Agreement between the NSW Department of Education and NSW AECG, and Our Plan for NSW Public Education, which together emphasise culturally inclusive practice, high expectations, and strong partnerships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities. It is further informed by the Guiding Principles of Leading Aboriginal Education, which centre cultural responsiveness, relational leadership and community authority; and by the Re-imagining Evaluation Framework, which promotes reflective, strengths-based evaluation of practice. The resource also aligns with the NSW Department of Education’s Enrolment of Students Policy, ensuring that enrolment processes are equitable, culturally responsive and supportive of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and families.

The design principles also draw on the Early Years Learning Framework and the EAL/D Evaluation Framework, supporting culturally responsive practice and effective support for bilingual and/or multilingual learners. These frameworks recognise the importance of building on students’ linguistic strengths and supporting equitable access to Standard Australian English.

This resource also supports the broader objectives of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which emphasises improved outcomes through partnership, shared decision-making and community‑led approaches. Together, these priorities shape an evidence‑informed resource that assists schools to translate system expectations into practical, culturally responsive and inclusive enrolment practices.

Consulted with (subject matter experts)

Aboriginal Education and Communities Directorate; Equity, Multicultural and Inclusive Education; NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc.

Reviewed by: Aboriginal Education and Communities

Created/last updated: July 2026

Anticipated resource review date: This resource will be reviewed in July 2027. To ensure ongoing improvement of this resource, feedback on this resource can be provided via the LINK or QR code below.