LANGUAGES
LANGUAGES TEAM - WINS, LOSSES AND BEING ACTIVE
It has been another busy term for languages, with more outings and adventures, as well as planning for 2026 overseas travels.
In the losses column, we are losing one of our French team at the end of the year. Cedric Chamontin started at McKinnon SC at the same time as I did, crashing headlong into the coronavirus in our first year. It was a challenging introduction. He will be missed. Au revoir, monsieur, et bonne chance!
FAREWELL MESSAGE
After six wonderful years here, it is time for me to farewell a community that has become such a big part of my life.
One of the great joys of my time has been sharing the French language and culture with students. As a native speaker, it is a world I know deeply and carry with me every day. My hope has always been that experiencing another culture broadens students’ understanding of the world and encourages them to appreciate different ways of thinking and living. In an increasingly globalised world, I hope I have helped open a few minds and sparked a curiosity that will stay with them.
Some of my favourite memories come from the Education Perfect Championships and the Berthe Mouchette Competitions. They were certainly busy and complex, occasionally feeling like a logistical maze. Yet watching students challenge themselves, rise to the occasion and enjoy the experience made every moment worthwhile.
Teaching Year 12 French has been a particular highlight. I have always felt a strong drive to support students to achieve their very best and I have loved finding creative ways to help them succeed. Whether they continued their French study beyond school or not, learning another language leaves a mark. It opens the door to new perspectives, new stories and new connections, and I hope they will look back on that experience with pride and affection.
Thank you to the students, staff and families for your warmth, energy and support. I am deeply grateful for all that I have learnt here and for the memories I will take with me. I look forward to staying in touch and wish everyone continued success in the years ahead.
Cedric Chamontin
French Teacher
OUTSTANDING LANGUAGE STUDENTS
French students - Berthe Mouchette Competition
The Berthe Mouchette Competition, run by the Alliance Francaise de Melbourne, is an annual event. It is very heavily subscribed to, and prizes are often claimed by private schools, selective entry high schools, and French language schools. But every year, McKinnon’s French students make a strong showing. This year our students received great results in both poetry recitation and the written and oral exams, with a number being selected as finalists. Special mention has to be made of the following two students, who were the winners in their sections.
Daniela Tapia Leal, who won first place in the Year 12 oral exam. It has to be mentioned that she is a Year 11 student, and that in previous years she has been a regular winner in the poetry recitation section.
Oscar Tran who won first place in the Year 10 poetry recitation competition for students with a French-speaking background.
Year 9 German students participated in an annual video-making competition run by the Association of German Teachers of Victoria. This year’s competition saw entries from 15 schools, and learners had to produce a trailer to advertise their chosen topic for a documentary program relating to the languages and cultures of the German-speaking world.
Bob Ding, Tristan Tan and Minh Bui won Second Prize with their video focused on the Deutsche Bahn (German railways system).
Clementine Wilson, Lily Ballenden and Nikki Bharathy won Third Prize with their video focused on deutsche Nachtische (German desserts).
Year 10 students of German participated in the Unternehmen Deutsch project run by the Goethe Institute for Australian secondary schools. The project promotes collaboration between schools and German companies or Australian companies with a relationship with German-speaking countries within our region. The project introduces students to the professional world and enables insights into economic structures and contexts, as well as promoting creativity and inventive ideas.
This year student teams from a variety of schools submitted a total of 52 ideas for a service or product that their partner company could consider. We were thrilled that the business idea developed by one of our student teams was selected into the final shortlist of seven submissions - congratulations Bella Steller, Carrie Leung and Juliana Jegajivan!
The final judging and awards ceremony, including members of the German Australian Chamber of Commerce and the German Embassy, was conducted online by video call because it involved schools in five different states of Australia. We are proud of the efforts of all our student teams and of how they conducted themselves in their interaction with their partner company.
TERM 4 EVENTS
The following list of Term 4 events reflects the continued hard work of the languages teachers, who strive to make the experience of learning a language a dynamic cultural experience
Years 9 and 10 German excursion to the city centre, to follow a German-language scavenger hunt, explore German businesses in the city and eat traditional food at the Hofbräuhaus restaurant.
Year 7 Spanish classesDay of the Dead activities
Year 9 French visits to Roule Galette in Carnegie to eat galettes and crepes
Year 12 French restaurant visit with Monsieur Chamontin
In addition to these activities and those undertaken throughout the year, planning is well underway for trips to Spain, Germany, France and New Caledonia in 2026.
VCE UPDATE
The French and German speaking exams are done; on Wednesday 19 November, students will undertake the VCE Written French and German exams.
In 2026, Spanish is moving up into Year 11 and will feature in Orientation Week for the first time.
KEEPING UP
There are several ways for students to keep up their languages and to experience the cultures of their languages during the summer break. These include Christmas Markets and summer courses.
Various links are available below:
Holiday Language classes for a little boost
Alliance Française de Melbourne - Courses for French
Teen German Courses, HSC, VCE Preparation Face-to-face and online for German
Instituto Cervantes for Spanish
Jenny Lynd
Languages KLA Manager