Languages week 

We were thrilled to run Languages Week last week after two years of COVID interruptions. Some of the activities that the Languages students enjoyed included conducting Zoom calls with our Japanese sister school, ordering delicious crepes in French, lunchtime Japanese karaoke, French cancan dancing and pétanque (French bowls). 

Congratulations to our Education Perfect Languages Week Competition winners: 

Ginger Chen (1st place), 

Tiffany Jacquin (2nd place) 

Charlotte Lam (3rd place). 

A big thankyou to everyone who helped make the week a success, especially our Languages teachers.

Emma Dickson

Domain Leader - Languages

Zooming into Japan 

Covid-19 has put a ‘pause’ on our reciprocal exchange visit with our Sister School in Nagoya, with Nakamura Senior High School. Now would usually be the time we would be welcoming Nakamura students to MGSC and they would be hosted by Mentone families. Instead after figuring out the logistics of linking up via Zoom during Term 2, we were able to, for the first time, come together in this way! The students were nervous but afterwards we were all so rapt how well it worked. We have also been informed that Nakamura have received the letters our Year 7 & Year 8 students wrote last term. We look forward to more interactions with the students from Nakamura Senior High School as the year goes by.

Student reflection:

Year 7 to 10 Japanese learners were ‘zooming’ with Nakamura Senior High School (our sister school) students last week. The event kicked off with a welcoming greeting from the English teacher at Nakamura, then Mentone teachers (Ms Witt, Mr Clancy, Ms Lauw and Miss Fang) introduced themselves alongside student representatives from Year 7 to Year 10 giving a short speech too. After that, we were assigned breakout rooms and started the call with the Japanese students. At first, it felt a bit awkward but we soon got along pretty well. We spoke in both Japanese and English, introducing ourselves, asking questions, and telling each other about ourselves. 

We introduced some Aussie snacks to the students for them to try when they come to Australia. Some of those snacks included Tiny Teddy biscuits, Twisties, cheezels, Roll-ups, Chocolate freckles, lamingtons, Caramello Koalas, wagon wheels, lolly teeth, Iced Vovo biscuits etc. Lots of language practice and laughs were had, and both MGSC and Nakamura students enjoyed the chat. Then we went back to the main room and ended the call with a final goodbye to everyone. It was a wonderful experience for all of us and we enjoyed meeting each other. It was sad to say goodbye as we had fun meeting new people. Thank you!

Rose and Lindsay 7H