LOTE Department News

Visiting Japanese cyclists

Girton Grammar has been honoured to host 13-year-old cyclists Konoha Ogawa and Hoho Sasaoka from Mie prefecture in Japan, who are visiting to compete in the Bendigo International Madison.

The arrangements were made after the school was approached by Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services. Girton is the only school in the region that offers Japanese, and it was important to the students and their teachers to be hosted at a school that would be able to offer language support if required.

During their time at Girton, the students have enjoyed attending Senior School classes with buddies in various year levels and even joining in Co-Connect sessions. The students also had a wonderful time with the Junior School students, who they found very cute!

The visit has enabled Girton's students to hear about the lives of young people in Japan, complementing their studies of the Japanese language and culture. It has also provided an opportunity for students to apply the words they have learned in class in a real-world situation as they communicate with the visiting students using a mixture of Japanese, English and gestures.

Thank you to all the students who acted as buddies for the students during their time at Girton.

Gojo visit

The LOTE Department is looking forward to the arrival of two teachers and 12 students from Gojo Senior High School, our sister school in Nara prefecture in Japan. Taking place in Weeks 7 and 8 of Term 1, this year’s exchange is particularly significant because it marks the 30-year anniversary of our sister school relationship and will be Gojo's first post-pandemic visit to Australia. Our Japanese visitors will be attending classes in both the Senior School and Junior School, accompanied by their Girton host students. They will also be here in time to participate in the Senior School Athletics Carnival. Feel free to say “konnichiwa” and introduce yourself to the Gojo visitors if you see them.

We would like to thank our Girton community for generously offering to host the students and teachers from Gojo. Without this generosity, we could not run a successful exchange program.

Please take a moment to watch the video message below from Gojo SHS to mark the 30-year anniversary of our exchange program.