Language Acquisition
In Years 7 and 8, students study Mandarin two lessons per week. Students are phased in classes according to their experience in learning the language. In Years 10 to 12 we offer Chinese for native speakers, and our aim is to introduce this into Years 7-9 by 2023.
During these lessons, students have the opportunity to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. They learn how communicate using a range of text types and for a range of purposes in familiar contexts: Family, hobbies, daily routine, etc
Learning about the culture is also essential part of language learning. Students learn about a range of cultural festivals and food. The main purpose of learning another language is to develop students’ ability to interact with other cultures through building their intercultural understanding.
In Year 9 students can choose a language acquisition elective which runs for 6 months. They have the opportunity to choose whether to continue to study Mandarin, or whether to try to Spanish.
English as an Additional Language (Language and Literature)
Students who have been invited to be part of the English as an Additional Language program, study English 6 times each week. For Language they explore grammatical structures, vocabulary, spelling to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. In the Literature course, students study a modified humanities programme, exploring Australian identity and systems. These include First Fleet, Gold Rush and Government. Through these themes students investigate poetry, short stories and professional media articles. Students are regularly assessed