Languages News

Lucie Dickens, Academic Dean of Languages 

Kilvington celebrated Bastille day throughout July!

Junior School Bastille Day 

Milana Skrypnyk (Junior School Language Leader) and Grace Anastasiadis, Year 6

On Friday 29 July, the Junior School celebrated Bastille Day. In France, Bastille Day is a public holiday and a day to celebrate democracy and freedom as well as spend time with friends and family.

At Recess and Lunch, the Junior School enjoyed making bracelets, French flags and friendship pins as well as participating in karaoke and an Eiffel Tower-building competition. The highlight of the day for many students' was the photobooth station and having crepes which were provided by the Crêpeoohlicious company. 

At the end of the day, students in Years 3 to 6 were surprised with a special appearance by a FRENCH MUSICIAN named Philip! He introduced us to many musical instruments and dances. 

Overall, we had a fun and fantastic day exploring the French culture. Thanks go out to all the people who helped make this day possible, and a special thanks to Madame Mullins for her time and effort! Au revoir!

Senior School Bastille Day 

Keeping warm with a French pastry while listening to French music, catching up on some holidays news and supporting the Indigenous Literacy Foundation - what a nice way to start Term 3! Thank you to staff and students for taking part in this event!

Year 8 Cultural day 

Eva Zhu, Year 8 Japanese

Year 8 Cultural Day was both enjoyable and extraordinary. As a student learning Japanese, I especially enjoyed chatting with friends and munching on our extremely delectable Japanese dishes while sitting in Dalton Hall.

Even though it was difficult and required a lot of teamwork to manage all the decorations and menus, I believe everyone had a great lunch!

After spending a reasonable amount of time packing, we then all got to enjoy a relaxing and peaceful manga session with a professional Japanese manga artist. 

Isla Tucker, Year 8 French

Cultural Day for the Year 8s was a blast! Everyone enjoyed the range of French activities. One of my highlights was the French Circus where we got to learn how to do circus tricks. 

We learnt how to juggle balls, bats and many other things. We also attended a drama masterclass where we showed off our French food skills by both naming foods and also being food! 

My favourite thing of the day was the French style dining in Dalton Hall. It was an amazing atmosphere, with everyone trying their best to embrace the French culture. We made French style meals, which included the likes of crème brûlée, potato au gratin and a variety of cheese boards. Overall, this was definitely a day to remember!

Results from the 128th edition of the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette Competition

Congratulations to all students who expressed an interest in participating in this competition. The results were once again excellent with seven finalists who will compete before the end of the month to see if they can be part of the State winners. We wish all the best to:

Year 4 

Holly Krischock

Jasmine Zhang

Jenny Stephens 

Year 5 

Pounny Zhou 

Year 8 

Max Dillon-Shallard 

Year 9 

Alessia De Felice

Elijah Slavinski

In the meantime, we will award certificates to the Years 3 to 9 students at assembly. 

Here's what Holly Kristchock from Year 4 had to say about the Berthe Mouchette competition:

I love participating in Berthe Mouchette. The poems always have interesting characters or places. I love doing these poems because they give me a chance to express myself while I learn a bit more French. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to extend myself and shine – and I really enjoy the sense of accomplishment. And this year, I’m a finalist!

Year 6 award for the AFTV Francophonie Competition 

On 16 July, Emily Morris accepted her award at Fed Square for 2nd place in the Years 5 to 6 Category in the Francophonie competition organised by the Association of French Teachers in Victoria and the Melbourne Forum de la Francophonie.  

The other winner of the award, Grace Anastasiadis, was unable to attend due to National Dance titles. 

Year 10 French - Study on Paris

Students have been focusing on their area of study on Paris. Apart from learning new language skills and grammar, students have discovered Paris, its landscapes and Parisian lifestyle in depth. 

Integrating technology and the use of the virtual reality glasses, students were able to explore and 'travel' to Paris from their classroom. 

Kilvington’s Global Connections Program

Despite the events of the last few years restricting our ability to travel around the world, Kilvington’s Global Connections Program remains one of the School’s Flagship Programs. 

The goal of our Global Connections Program is to foster intercultural understanding, which is essential in developing students who are responsible local and global citizens. 

Through discussion groups in the form of virtual forums, exchanges of articles on global issues, or through the immersion in another culture, students not only extend their language skills but also experience the fluid nature of culture – its challenges, moments of inspiration and diversity. 

Our focus has remained on maintaining strong connections with our partner schools in Japan, France and China, as we value preparing our students with the skills to thrive in a highly connected world.

As we consider the possibility of travelling again, we would like to inform you of the options students may have in the next few years to visit and/or host students from our partner schools including Shanghai West Yan’an Middle School, China; Saint Joseph La Salle in Toulouse, France; Hiroshima Jogakuin Junior High School, Todoroki High School and Seiyro High School, Japan.

The options include students travelling through individual or group study or cultural tours. Some tours are reciprocal and Kilvington families can also decide to only host students from these schools should their child elect not to participate in the program. 

More details about the Global Connections Program can be found below. 

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP TOUR DETAILS

2023-2025 SCHEDULE - GLOBAL CONNECTIONS PROGRAM 

If you would like to express your interest in participating in a 2023 individual tour, or would like further information on the above Global Connections Program experiences, please feel free to contact me at dickensl@kilvington.vic.edu.au.

HOSTING STUDENTS

If your child travels to France as part of an individual or group tour, they will stay with a host family from our partner school, Saint Joseph La Salle in Toulouse. It is expected that this is reciprocated when the student of that host family travels to Australia. 

Your willingness to host provides essential role modelling of the engaged global citizen for your children. Your family has the unique opportunity to share cultural, language and special experiences with the visiting student. 

Hosting includes taking care of the guest student and any expenses incurred during the homestay experience in the home so that the range of experiences in each country can be of a similar standard. 

If your child does not travel overseas, but would still like to host a student from our partner schools, please register your interest here.