Bilingual Pedagogy Leader

As the Bilingual Pedagogy Leader at BSPS, I work closely with teachers, students, and school leaders to support and strengthen our unique Italian-English bilingual program. My role involves researching best practices in bilingual education, observing and mentoring teaching teams, and helping to plan and refine high-quality lessons in Italian across all year levels. I also focus on implementing strategies that develop students’ thinking skills in both languages and ensure that every child receives rich, meaningful language input in every classroom.

Why I love my role?

From collaborating with other bilingual schools to supporting new staff, leading professional learning, and helping preparing for events like Italian Day and conferences, my work is all about ensuring that our bilingual learners thrive and that both Italian and English are insieme celebrated valued and used meaningfully every day at BSPS.

Phonics and Metodo Sillabico - Foundation to Year 2

In line with the Department of Education’s updated expectations for early literacy, schools across Victoria are strengthening the explicit teaching of phonics. This means teaching sounds, letters, and spelling patterns in a clear, systematic sequence so that every child develops strong decoding and early reading skills.

At our school, we have been working proactively in this space. Since last year, Cate (Literacy Leader) and I, Chiara (Bilingual Pedagogy Leader), have been focusing on aligning our English phonics instruction with the teaching of Italian syllables through the metodo sillabico. This means that across Foundation to Year 2, students experience a sequenced, systematic, and explicit approach in both languages, where phonics and italian sillabe knowledge are taught in a clear, connected and mutually supportive way.

This alignment not only supports the Department’s priorities but also strengthens our bilingual program: helping students transfer skills across languages and grow as confident, capable readers and writers in English and Italian.