New School Information

How to Set up a New School

First become a member with AICLS in order to receive help from the Education Officer.

• Ask in your community the parents with children in the age range from 4 to 17 if they are willing to participate. Funding under the Community Languages Schools Program is for students from K—12. Write the students in the 'Student's interested in enrolling' form. Once classes are set up, each student fills out an 'Enrolment Form'
• Teaching resources are one of the most important parts of your school.  You can use the AICLS office facilities eg. library, computer, photocopier, laminator, book binder etc. The AICLS Education Officer will help you with this. The following ideas might help you to collect resources:
  • asking in your community what people already have
  • going to the AICLS library
  • going to your local library
  • contacting already established Community Language Schools in your language
  • searching the internet
  • contacting people you know in your country to send out materials
  • purchasing material from your country
  • producing your own materials
• You have to form a committee. Please read the attached 'Information about Committees'. If you are not familiar with the procedures of forming committee, the AICLS Education Officer will help you. Your first meeting will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM), when the committee members are being voted. You will also have to decide on at least two members who will be signatories on your cheque account. The minutes of this meeting are needed for opening a bank account.
• Open up a bank account for a non-profitable organisation. To open a bank account you will need the minutes of your Annual General Committee meeting. The Committee members who can sign the cheques have to go and meet at the bank together with identification papers. There should always be at least two signatures necessary to sign cheques.Please ask your bank what is needed.
• You have to keep a record of all incoming and outgoing cheques and money.
• You have to have a public liability insurance. The AICLS Education Officer can help you with this.
• Contact the Department of Fair Trading to lodge an application of Incorporation. Further details about why you should be incorporated, please follow the link: Incorporation and How do we incorporate?
• Your school needs a syllabus. A syllabus is a framework of what and how a student is to learn the language. If there is no Board of Studies syllabus available for your language, ask the AICLS Education Officer for help in developing your own. This is done by looking already existing Syllabus and modifying it to your needs. Please look at the following website:
  Board of Studies Website
  1. Once the school is ready for operation, enroll students officially by filling out a 'Student Enrolment form' for each student.
  2. Make sure AICLS School Information is up to date. All committee member and teacher details are always updated. So please inform AICLS if there is a change of teachers, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. (see 'School details form' and 'Teacher Profile Form')
  3. Apply for Establishment Grant after 3 months of operation of school, ask the AICLS Education Officer for help. 
  4. Fill out form of Location Details
  5. If registered with AICLS the Bank Details form is to stay with AICLS and does not have to go to Sydney, as all grant payments will go through AICLS.
  6. All students have to fill out the Permission to 'Publish Student's work and Photographs' form. This is for Photos of the students and their work being sometimes published in various Community Language School newsletters or on the AICLS website.
• ARE YOU A MEMBER WITH AICLS?

Please also read the file attachment by the

NSW COMMUNITY LANGUAGES SCHOOLS PROGRAM , STEPS TO ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY LANGUAGE SCHOOL