Global Connections in Action

Our Language students are encouraged to travel to our partner schools in France and Japan to further develop their language skills and immerse themselves in another culture. This continues to add enormous value to our students’ development as global citizens.

Individual Tour to France

Charlotte Westaway, Year 12 - Visit to St Joseph La Salle, Toulouse, France

Participating in an Individual Tour to France over the Christmas holidays was the culmination of my language studies and a childhood dream come true.  

I felt extremely fortunate to have the chance to immerse myself in French culture, community, and language for five weeks. Being surrounded by historic architecture and offered a new type of cheese every day were most definitely highlights! 

The Tour gave me the opportunity to travel independently and improve my French speaking skills. But perhaps more importantly, my lovely host family and their friends opened my eyes to the value of appreciating the simple joys in life.

My host family was incredibly nice, warm, friendly and welcoming. I found my place within about a week as they treated me like another family member. Sarah and Inès were like my siblings and I think we meshed very well together. 

I was also able to meet their extended family who were equally friendly and accommodating. I call my hosts my second family, as it was like living with a long-distance aunt, uncle and cousin(s) for five weeks. 

Individual Tour to Japan 

Sofia Semenchko, Year 11 - Visit to Seiryo High School, Ogaki, Japan

At Seiryo High School, we were given a timetable where we would visit a different class each day. By the end of the trip, we had visited almost all of the classes (if not all)!

The range of classes were interesting; we had a calligraphy class, a class to do with computers, a basic and a more advanced English class, Math, Science, and specialist classes like handicrafts. 

I enjoyed the handicrafts class the most as we got to make bear plushies and bags. In the calligraphy class, we learnt how to use the calligraphy brushes and experiment with various stroke weights and ink concentrations. In the computer skills class, we practised speed typing and made a cool table in Google Docs. 

I found the basic English class easy as the focus was on simple grammar patterns. The advanced English was more interesting as students were more fluent and could hold a conversation with us. 

In Science class, the teachers often played explanatory videos which made it easier for me to understand the concepts. However, there were too many kanji (Japanese text form) for me to even remotely understand what the notes said! Maths class was pretty easy as there weren’t any worded equations. 

Our afterschool activities included meeting the mayor, a tea ceremony, a small party and a tour of Ogaki. I also chose to go to a computer club with my host sister on most days. The club involved speed typing, where we got a text and had to see how much we could type of the text in 10 minutes. Overall, it was pretty fun. We also appeared in the newspaper a total of three times, which is something I found quite amusing. 

Anthea Diplaris, Year 11 - Visit to Todoroki Senior High School, Tokyo, Japan

In January 2023, I was lucky enough to take part in a three-week individual tour of Japan alongside my good friend Ruby. I stayed in Tokyo, took part in a homestay and attended classes at Todoroki Senior High School. 

While at Todoroki, I also took part in ぶかつ, which are afterschool clubs many students attend with their friends. School was also a great place for me to practice my Japanese speaking abilities and meet new people. 

Outside of school, I visited many beautiful places with my host family and friends such as Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa, and even Tokyo Disneyland! As much as I loved all these amazing places, I loved the little neighborhood I stayed in just as much, and cherish the memory of all of the little walks I took through it with my host family. 

The trip was such a valuable experience, which allowed me to really immerse myself into the Japanese culture and language. While it was quite different from my life in Australia, I feel it makes the experience that much more special. The memories I made and skills I learnt there will stick with me forever. Thank you.

Visits from our Partner School students 

In Term 1, we were thrilled to host Aki Koshiishi and Kentaro Arakawa, two students from our partner school in Tokyo, Todoroki High School. They share with us their Kilvington experience. 

Aki Koshiishi, Japanese guest student

First of all, I would like to say thank you to my teachers, my friends and my host family. Thanks to them, I enjoyed Australia so much. Even though I couldn’t speak much English, my teachers and friends were very kind to me and helped me a lot. 

My host family took me to many places, including Flinders Street, the State Library of Victoria, the beach, Chadstone Shopping Centre and Phillip Island. One of my most memorable experiences in Australia was on Phillip Island. 

My host mother took me there because she knew I wanted to see penguins. After eating a meal of fish and chips, we went to see the small penguins who were living there. They appeared from the sea at night to get back to their nests. They were so small and cute! We saw many penguins so I felt very satisfied!  

I had many special experiences in Australia. To be honest, I want to spend more time in Australia and I'm definitely going to come back someday! Thank you for a wonderful time! 

Kentaro Arakawa, Japanese guest student 

When I first arrived in Australia, with my baggage lost and my mind filled with anxiety, I wondered how I would survive here. 

At the beginning of Term 1, I tried to understand the lessons spoken perfectly in English - an impossible challenge for me! After a while, I gave up trying to understand the whole thing and just tried to understand what I could. From then on, I started feeling more relaxed in class.  

I experienced many enjoyable things and made many new friends in Australia. Even though I can’t decide which events were the most memorable, all events were very precious to me. My friends were super kind and caring, speaking simple English slowly so that I could understand. 

I felt more alive and had a greater sense of freedom at Kilvington compared to my school back in Japan. Also, I feel my English has improved by staying in Australia and interacting with lots of people. I am very grateful, especially for all the things my parents, friends, host family and teachers have done for me. 

I am sad to stay in Australia for only two months. If I could, I would stay here for another three months. I have decided to keep learning English because of this experience and I would like to one day visit Australia again. As I mentioned earlier, I appreciate everyone’s kindness throughout my time here!  

Reflection from Host Family 

Ensuring that our visiting students have an enjoyable and safe experience is our key priority. We are indeed fortunate that we have families within our community who are eager and willing to share their home with our visitors and make their visit a positive and memorable one. 

Our families also benefit greatly from the different cultural perspective that our visiting students bring. The following is a reflection from Kentaro Arakawa’s host family.

Yuan Wen, host mum of Kentaro Arakawa

We were lucky to meet Kentaro and act as his host family. Even though we didn't have much time with him, he became like a part of our family. Kentaro is a gentle, caring and active boy, and set a good example for my two sons, Lawrence (Year 3) and Nicholas (Year 1). He was very caring towards them, playing with them and reminding them if they did anything inappropriate. 

While Kentaro stayed with us, we learnt more about Japan, Japanese culture and Japanese living habits. We talked about a lot of things, such as Japanese attractions, transportation, food, ninjas, animation, etc. He also shared with us about his school life at Kilvington and the delicious food he made at School. 

It was exciting for us to see him enjoying his study at Kilvington and making friends from different year levels. We hope that this experience becomes a precious memory in his life.