In week 2 of the term, we celebrated Languages Week which promoted the languages offered at the college and their cultures. 

Languages Week aimed to take our students’ knowledge of Italian and Japanese out of the classroom and enrich their learning with cultural experiences. Homerooms began the day with daily cultural quizzes and recorded prayers in many of the languages of our College community. 

During the week, Year 8 Japanese students discovered the art of traditional Japanese calligraphy while year 9 Japanese students tried their hands at Japanese Taiko drumming. Lunchtimes brought Italian and Japanese culinary experiences to our College and as a part of the various lunchtime offerings, students enjoyed pizza, gyoza, gelato and mochi as well as a competitive game of tombola (Italian Bingo). 

It was great to see so much student involvement in the various Languages Week events!

Dante Alighieri Italian Poetry Competition

In June, 32 of our year nine Italian students participated in the Dante Alighieri Italian Poetry Competition. To represent our school among over 2000 students from across Victoria, the students were required to learn an Italian poem and recite it in front of a judge at the University of Melbourne. 

This day out aimed to provide students with uniquely Italian cultural experiences and so we also visited the Museo Italiano which is a permanent exhibition of Italian immigration to Australia. Many of our students of Italian backgrounds found this to be highly relevant to their family histories and a very insightful experience. We also enjoyed a pizza lunch together and visit to Brunetti to enjoy some delicious Italian sweets. This was such a great day that was enjoyed by students and staff! 

A couple of weeks later, we were notified that 2 of our students had progressed to the finals of the competition! Anastasia Pereira and Emilia Raunik were selected to return to the University and recite their poems again among only 150 students across Victoria who had progressed to the finals. What an achievement! 

Our students recited their poems with great effort and skill in spoken Italian. Congratulations to Anastasia, Emilia and all of the students who participated!