Established in 1999, ALNF is a registered national charity seeking to assist people in Australia’s most marginalised communities to gain literacy skills.  ALNF develops, implements and sustains six innovative programs in remote and urban sites: 1. Early Language and Literacy – Addressing the importance and effectiveness of early intervention to prepare and support children for literacy learning in the early school years; 2. Indigenous First Languages – Preserving and revitalising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Languages through the development of interactive digital literacy apps; 3. Refugee Action Support –  Supporting English literacy for children and youth of refugee background; 4. Subtext: Art for Literacy –  young people of refugee backgrounds build their English language knowledge through creative arts workshops; 5. Share-A-Book and; 6. Literacy Packs - quality resources to support children’s literacy learning.

 

ALNF is proposing to extend its delivery of the Early Language & Literacy (EL&L) program on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. The project would include the delivery of EL&L to three public schools in the region with large Aboriginal student populations. EL&L is a best practice program for early years education that incorporates speech and language pathology and education best practice principles expressly designed to optimise the language and literacy outcomes of disadvantaged children. EL&L equips educators, parents and community members with the knowledge and tools required to work with their own children to develop foundational language and literacy skills via:

-              Training and skill-building workshops in direct, explicit instruction in pre-writing, pre-phonics, oral language and vocabulary development;

-              Uniquely designed multisensory resources designed to extend oral language and early literacy experiences for children;

-       Ongoing workplace mentoring for participants and participating sites.

 

The program includes an Australian Skills Quality Authority accredited Certificate IV (10652NAT) course.

 

Waratah Education Foundation awarded funding to ALNF to deliver the EL&L program to 3 public schools in 2022.