Glen Education Bentleigh East
Celebrating Our 2025 Achievements: Our Mandarin Language Program & A Culture of Kindness
By Jenny, Innesa and Kate from Glen BEK
Achievement 1: Strengthening Connection Through Our Mandarin Language Program
One of our proudest achievements this year has been the growth of our Mandarin language program. With our language teacher, children explored Mandarin through songs, storytelling, gestures, and interactive games that made language learning joyful and meaningful.
A highlight for the children was learning the Mandarin song “听我说谢谢你 (Ting wo shuo xie xie ni)”, a beautiful and heartfelt song about expressing gratitude. The children were instantly drawn to it, and it became the most requested song each week. Through this simple yet powerful song, children learned how to say “thank you” in another language, deepening their understanding of appreciation, empathy, and communication. We also learned many other words throughout our routine to help children connect another new culture to their own culture.
Many families shared that their children excitedly talked about what they had learned in Mandarin at home. Some even played the songs we learned together at home, reinforcing language learning and extending the joy of discovery beyond kindergarten. Families’ involvement, sharing cultural stories, and supporting these experiences has created a vibrant, connected, and inclusive learning environment where children feel supported both at kinder and at home.
The language program has strengthened children’s confidence, built friendships, and encouraged collaboration as they explored new words and phrases together.
Achievement 2: Growing a Community Grounded in Kindness
Kindness has been a central focus of our work this year. While kindness can mean many different things—a feeling, an action, a thought, we believe it begins from within. By nurturing children’s sense of identity, belonging, and autonomy, we help them develop the inner confidence needed to show kindness to others.
Throughout the year, we saw children comforting peers, helping each other during play, sharing and taking turns on learning resources. These small acts reflect the strong, caring community we have built together.
Our understanding of kindness came to life during our Arcare community visit, where children prepared gifts filled with love and kindness. They created handmade cards, selected natural materials from our backyard garden to form small bouquets, and chose songs we learned at kinder to show our residents —including their favorite Mandarin “thank you” song. Their generosity, joy, and confidence brought smiles to the residents and demonstrated how kindness can connect people across generations.
As we reflect on 2025, we are incredibly proud of the growth, curiosity, and kindness our children have shown. Through our Mandarin language program, children have developed new skills, shared joy with others, and connected with language and culture in meaningful ways. Through fostering a culture of kindness, they have learned empathy, care, and the joy of giving.
Together with our families and community, we have built a learning environment where children feel confident, supported, and inspired to explore, create, and connect. We look forward to continuing this journey next year, nurturing curiosity, compassion, and connection in everything we do.