Languages 

From Italy to DSC: A Special Letter 

This year, DSC planned to welcome university graduate Ilaria Zarrelli from Italy to work as an Italian language assistant at our school. However due to COVID-19 this was unable to go ahead. Ilaria writes to us from her hometown in Naples.

My name is Ilaria and I am writing from the other side of the world. I am 26 years old and I come from Benevento, a small town near Naples in the south of Italy.  I currently live and work as an after-school assistant for primary and secondary school students.

As you may know, Italy was the first European nation to be involved in the coronavirus pandemic.

Our government put us into lockdown on 11 March, which meant that only pharmacies, supermarkets, banks and post offices remained open. We could only go out for basic needs, while wearing masks and gloves, and with appropriate self-certification declaring our need to go outside.  

The lockdown of the whole country lasted for 54 days. Since then, different activities have been permitted and venues have slowly re-opened. When we were permitted to visit congiunti (“relatives”), it raised questions about who falls into this category: only family members or fiancés and long-standing friends too? 

To date, a pseudo-normalcy has been restored. In some regions, masks and gloves are still compulsory everywhere, restaurants must ensure continuous disinfection of furnishings and restrooms, and table arrangements must comply with social distancing rules.

From a psychological perspective, it has been a strange and stressful period, not only for all those who lost the fight against this pandemic, but also because of the social distancing that forbade any kind of physical contact. 

Nevertheless, the Italian spirit contributed to the overcoming of this horrible page in history: we improvised songs on the balconies and prepared so much pizza at home that it lead to a lack of yeast in supermarkets.

Obviously, COVID-19 also impacted on the school system. Schools and universities all over the country switched to remote teaching. Teachers began to hold lessons and assessment tests online, setting out virtual classrooms and practicing from home. 

The Minister of Education declared the official closure of the academic year in May and granted the promotion to the next grade of all students, even those with low marks, for whom a personal educational plan will be carried out during the upcoming academic year. 

Students we return to school in September while most universities will continue to make lessons available online. 

I hope that in Australia the impact of the pandemic has been less harmful, without all the health, social, psychological and economic consequences that we are still experiencing. I look forward to meeting you all in the hope that the program continues next year. 

Greetings from Italy, 

Ilaria 

Dragonboat Festival: 2,000 Years of Tradition 

Ms Zhang's Year 7 and 8 Chinese classes recently learnt about the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a traditional holiday in China.

The festival is held near the summer solstice and will take place on June 25 this year. 

Students have been busily researching the various festival traditions, which include eating sticky rice dumplings (zongzi), hanging fragrant plants and wearing perfume pouches. Students will do an oral presentation next week.

We hope they have enjoyed learning about these interesting and fun ancient customs!

Ms Zhang

Teacher of Chinese