LANGUAGES
As usual, term 2 is a busy time for language teachers and students. There is an array of activities completed, in progress and upcoming.
EDUCATION PERFECT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Education Perfect World championships ran from Tuesday 5 May to Tuesday 12 May this year. Our language leaders worked on the promotion, with the McKinnon Rd offering free crepes to students to lure them into the MERC.
McKinnon students took us to 2nd in the world again - another outstanding achievement!
McKinnon finished 1st in Victoria, 1st in the world in Russian, 3rd in the world for French and 3rd in Australia for Spanish.
Our students worked hard to achieve the following certificates:
Elite - 10 students
Emerald - 6 students
Gold - 10 students
Silver - 11 students
Bronze - 23 students
Credit - 46 students
Special mention has to be made of Meredith Zhu (Year 9), who finished the competition at number 5 in the world.
Thanks to all the language leaders and language teachers who ran lunchtime sessions for the 5 days of the competition.
FILM FESTIVALS
Our French students attended the French film festival in term 1, and in term 2 there are groups of Spanish and German students attending their respective film festivals. It is always an exciting season for the languages.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE BERTHE MOUCHETTE COMPETITION
French students from Years 7 to 10 have been memorising and practising their poems for Berthe Mouchette, and some Year 9 and 10 students have also completed the written exam. Our Year 11 and 12 students will be competing later in the year.
YEAR 9 LANGUAGES EXPO
The annual Year 9 Languages Expo is scheduled for Wednesday 3 June. This event provides an opportunity for our Year 9 students to share information about the cultures of the languages they speak and is always great fun.
MODEL UNITED NATIONS IN GERMAN AND FRENCH
Groups of our senior language students are preparing for the Model United Nations in French and German. This is always an interesting and challenging event where they meet with students from schools all around Victoria to participate in a United Nations General Assembly in their target language. They are assigned a country to represent and have to research that country so as to be able to engage meaningfully with other delegates in their target language.
GERMAN PENFRIENDS SCHEME
Year 8 German students are corresponding with email partners at the Max-Planck Gymnasium school in Göttingen. This is a genuine chance to use their language skills. They have sent an introductory email in German to a partner they have been matched with according to interests. Students need to find out about the city, school and everyday life for teenagers in Germany. This has been a very successful project over the last ten years and motivates many students to continue their study of the language.
ICE SKATING PRIZE
Aurianne Brandely, who teaches French and Spanish at East campus, won a gold medal (National Champion) at the Australian Adult Figure-skating Championships held in Brisbane in early March. Amazing!
