Newly arrived secondary-aged students requiring intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) support in metropolitan Sydney and Wollongong may be able to enrol in an Intensive English Centre (IEC) or the Intensive English High School (IEHS) before transferring to high school. IECs and the IEHS provide intensive ESL tuition to recently arrived, high-school-aged students whose first language is not English. The IECs/IEHS provide English language, orientation, settlement and welfare programs to prepare students for study in a NSW high school.
To be eligible for enrolment in an IEC/IEHS, students must be of high school age and meet eligibility requirements relating to the need for intensive ESL support, and will need to provide the date of arrival in Australia and residency status.
In certain cases, Year 6 students may transfer from a primary school to an IEC/IEHS to prepare for entry to high school the following year. In rural and regional areas where there is no IEC, newly arrived ESL students enrol in their local school where they may be eligible to receive additional short-term ESL support. For more information on ESL education and IECs and the IEHS, contact can be made with your local regional office or the Multicultural Programs Unit at http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/yrk12focusareas/multiculted/