Faculty Report

At the College, we are very proud to offer a Study Tour every two years for our three foreign languages. At the moment, we are simultaneously having a Japan and a China Study Tour with forty students involved. While some students today are in Xian admiring the worldwide famous terracotta warriors, others are attending the Bunkasai Festival at their sister school in Osaka. Such international journeys are always memorable experiences for our students, creating lifelong friendships and enhancing language skills. These Study Tours would not be possible without the initiative, planning, and presence of our languages teachers who also accompany their students on the tours. I appreciate their discretionary effort to ensure the success of our Study Tours and thank them for taking time away from their families during the school holiday period.

In our Faculty, languages teachers and students benefit from the ongoing support of language assistants. Students build fluency and confidence in their speaking skills by engaging in regular conversations in class, during recess and during lunchtime. We thank our native language assistants Honoka Koike (from Meiji University in Japan), Roberta Crisci and Yvonne Liu for their competent and valued contribution to our classes across all year levels. In addition, we are grateful for our former Italian teacher, Pina Parisi for her precious and irreplaceable help. Finally, we thank our former Japanese teacher, Yoshi Fujii for his ongoing support.

Japan Tour Photos:

China Tour Photos:

On another note, I would like to acknowledge students’ efforts in attending several local competitions. Both Ren Lai and Anthony Quang have completed the Annual Japanese Speech Contest at the University of Melbourne. Ren received 2nd place in the Background Speakers' division. Similarly, Yibo Iaskiv received a 2nd place at the finals of the Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition in Carlton, reciting the famous first twelve verses of the Divine Comedy. On top of that, during this year’s edition of the CLTAV Chinese Reading Competition, Lucas Velasquez was awarded 1st prize and Devassy Pynadath 3rd prize. Congratulations to you all, for your efforts and your dedication in language learning.

Finally, we engaged in many extracurricular activities and once again, celebrated our annual Languages Week, focusing mainly on junior students. It was a fun week of cultural immersion, and I thank our hard-working language teachers for driving this initiative.

Mr Denis Passalent

Faculty Head Languages