LANGUAGE CENTRE - wrap up

It was a busy finish for the Language Centre students, with exams, two excursions and graduation in the last few weeks of their time in the program.

We visited Moonlit Sanctuary to learn more about our Australian animals. The students were able to feed kangaroos and wallabies, and learn about other animals such as Tasmanian Devils, quolls, snakes, wombats and a range of birds. A highlight was the koala encounter. Each student had time with the koala, called Mallee, and many photo were taken. Thank you to Ms Walter and Ms Simmons for giving the students this opportunity.

Led by Madi Stewart and Ms Bolton, and supported by our other 2025 captains, Malachy, Andrew, Vans and Mason, as well as our Homestay co-ordinator, Sophia Ho, the students also had a water safety excursion at the newly built Brighton Life Saving Club. Here they learned about rips, how the life saving club protects visitors to the beach, and how to stay safe on the beach and in the water. They played games on the beach, learned about sea life  and looked at the beach boxes. Many thanks to Mr Ward, our driver, the school captains, and especially Madi, Ms Bolton, and Mr Bolton, for their preparation, hard work and knowledge.

Our students have had a semester in our Language Centre, and will now be joining the mainstream classes. To celebrate their hard work, we had a session where they shared their portfolios of their time in LC with Ms Walton’s Year 9 Japanese class. Our LC students explained what they have learned and the excursions they have been on with the Year 9s, who were very supportive, encouraging and interested. During our graduation ceremony the students were given their certificates and gifts, and their teachers spoke about their time in the LC, and wished them every success for the future.

Thank you to all our LC staff: Ms Bolton, Ms Walter, Ms Satapathy, Ms Fina, Mr Chen, Ms Carroll and Ms Hanson. Your expertise, enthusiasm and support was greatly appreciated. Thank you to Ms Walter and her class for participating in the portfolio sharing. Thank you to Ms Boyd and Ms Hill for sharing their wonderful library with us. Thank you to Ms Lawton and Ms Ho for all their work in helping the students throughout the semester, and for buying food and gifts for the students. Thank you to Ms Whiteman, Ms Stout and Mr Trytell for helping with the graduation ceremony. The biggest thank you, though, is to Liya, Levi, Selina, Charles, Jake, Bowen, Valeriia, Alice, Hanson, Eason, Yicheng, Moyong and Liam, for their efforts in coming to a new country and learning in a whole new language. Your courage is amazing, and we wish you all every success in your mainstream classes.

International Student Program Team