LANGUAGES

SA GERMAN HERITAGE TOUR - A TRAVEL BACK IN TIME

As every year, the Year 11 German students always look forward to studying the first German immigration to Australia at authentic sites. Fourteen students and two staff flew on an early Thursday morning to Adelaide and were picked up by a charter bus. First we made our way to Hahndorf, the first German settlement in the Adelaide Hills. Students went on a treasure hunt through the small town and visited the Hahndorf Academy and the Hans Heysen´s estate, a famous Australian painter of German heritage.

The second day offered a tour through Chateau Yaldara, introducing the wine industry and the contributions Germans had made to the significance of this industry in Australia. We continued with a tour in the Lobethal museum and church, a small town in the Barossa valley where religiously persecuted Germans could start a new life. The collection of artifacts is quite unique in Australia. The rolling hills of the Barossa valley with its many vineyards, orchards and fields made everyone feel being placed back in time. In the afternoon we met David Herbig and visited the Herbig Family Tree, who introduced us to his family history and the Friedensberg school and cemetery. His family came in the early days and had started their life in a gumtree. After many guided tours it was time for a sport activity. A game in the Tanunda 9-pin Bowling Club introduced all to a traditional German sport.

In the morning of the third day, we headed back to Adelaide to visit the Maritime Museum to learn more about the hardships first immigrants experienced on their journey to Australia. After lunch in Adelaide we returned with an early-afternoon flight to Melbourne.

Students enjoyed the opportunity of studying history in authentic places and worked with effort to complete set tasks during the tour. I would like to thank Ms Paal for accompanying the group with me and a big thank you to all students for their excellent behaviour on this tour.

GOETHE SCHOOL FILM FESTIVAL

Congratulations to our Year 10 German classes and one Year 9 student group whose films were selected to be submitted for the final screening in the Goethe School Film Festival at ACMI on 19 October 2017. Students will attend this event if the competing films reach the final.

Andrea Fowler

Head of Languages

2017 VICTORIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ PARLIAMENTARY CONVENTION

For a few years, I have been thoroughly enjoying taking a small group of students to this annual event in Parliament. Students have to apply to NCS (National Curriculum Services) and only three or four are selected per participating school. This year, Anita Voloshin and Shir Rosenberg (both of Year 11) as well as our youngest participant so far, Patrick Mullane (Year 9) were selected for this year's convention on Tuesday 12 September.

Preparation included pre-reading of information on the topic “Should Australia abolish compulsory voting and should the voting age be lowered to 16?” and a formal opening statement had to be written in collaboration.

After the opening and Welcome to the country, students were introduced to the topic. Students then presented their prepared opening statements. Shir Rosenberg presented McKinnon's keynote address which questioned if compulsory voting is really democratic and indicated that the voting age should be lowered. Students were following the different points of views made to individual areas, such as participation in elections, participating in work life and paying taxes when 16, the legal age of driving and the lack of education to engage younger citizens in politics.

Following the speeches from selected schools, the first Keynote Speaker Dr Aaron Martin from The University of Melbourne spoke about his field of expertise and his engagement with young people and politics.

The second Keynote Speaker, Associate Professor Libby Tudball from Monash University focused in her address on the values in our society and the importance of civics and citizenship education at schools.

A delicious morning tea was provided and then students met in discussion groups with participating students from Private, Catholic and Government schools to further investigate and discuss details of the set questions.

After lunch, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Maree Edwards MP, again welcomed the students who then reported back about their discussions in the groups and it was an absolute pleasure observing our students in Parliament. Patrick Mullane reported back for his group and our students followed with interest at question time and the soap box session. Their performance on the day was outstanding and I would like to thank each one of them for their excellent contribution to this program.

All three students have now been invited to apply for the National Schools Constitutional Convention, which will be held in Canberra in March 2018. We wish all applicants good luck with their application!

Andrea Fowler

Head of Languages