LANGUAGES

NEW STAFF IN THE LANGUAGES FACULTY

Welcome to Ms Maria-Carmen JIMENEZ VICTORIA, who will be teaching French to junior students this coming year. She is an experienced colleague who joins us from Parkdale Secondary College. We look forward to her contributions to the Languages faculty.

E-BOOKS IN LANGUAGES

All French Language students are now using the e-book (course book only) which needs to be purchased from Campion. Language lessons are a compulsory part of the Curriculum and give students the best start in an increasingly multilingual world.

Your child will require the online version of the prescribed textbook. You will receive an access code for the purchased book. Please make sure you keep this information secure, in case your child´s access gets interrupted.

Online resources in Year 9 and 10 German and Year 11 and 12 German and French are online resource subscriptions which are purchased by the school. The cost for these books has been included in school fees. Students will be enrolled by the administrator and have full access for the entire year.  

VET ENROLMENT

As in the past 4 years, all Year 10 French and German students will be enrolled in the

10297NAT Certificate II in Applied Language. This courses includes social and vocational language and is auspiced by a Registered Training Organisation, Ripponlea Institute.

The course is funded by the Government and encourages each student to complete this certificate.

This national qualification is part of our Year 10 program and acknowledges the students' language learning. It counts for 3 units at Unit 1 and 2 level and could be completed with Certificate III in Applied Language in Year 11. Students will receive an increment to their ATAR - 10% of their top 4 subjects.

This course should attract students who do not feel confident in completing VCE languages, but would still like to have their languages qualifications acknowledged in their final VCE statement.  

If your son/daughter studies another language outside of school, the Victorian School of Languages offers this certificate in several languages.

An information session will be held before the Year 10 Information Night. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

MCKINNON WENT TO FRANCE - FRENCH EXCHANGE 2017

After hosting their French exchange partners in their homes, it was time for the 22 students to travel to France and experience life as a French teenager. The group consisted of 20 Year 10s, 2 Year 11s, Ms Dickson, Ms Antal and Mrs Fowler flew out of Melbourne Airport on Friday 9 December. Three flights and 24 hours later, we arrived in Nice Airport to 22 very happy families, ready to make the most of the four week experience.

Classes started on Monday and we were officially welcomed by the Principal team.

For the next week, the students followed their partners to classes, exhausted by the long school days and listened to lots of French. They also went to English classes and presented on topics like Australian sport, geography, music and so on. Some days sent us on excursions, exploring the French Riviera. In the first week, we went to the town of Valbonne where we were greeted by the Adjunct Mayor and explored the market and old village streets. We also went to Alpha Loup, a nature park in the mountains that cares for the wolf population. The students were almost as excited to play in the snow as they were to see the wolves.

The students then had two weeks of holidays with their French families. Some went to Paris, some to Milan and other parts of Italy, some went skiing in the Alps, some to country towns in France to visit grandparents. They experienced the Christmas and New Year holidays in France.

After one more week of school which included two excursions (St Tropez and a wattle farm), it was time to say a teary goodbye and fly home. Overall, it was an incredible experience where students learnt so much. Their knowledge and comprehension of French language improved, as did their confidence in speaking French. Their understanding of French culture and daily life also increased significantly. For some students, they have made lifelong connections with their French exchange partner and their families.

Thank you to Mrs Binnion and Mr Kan who made sure this trip could go ahead. Thank you to Ms Dickson and Ms Antal for organising the trip and travelling to France with the students. Thank you to Mrs Fowler and Mr Jewell for accompanying the group to and from France. Finally, thank you to the fantastic students who made the most of the experience and were excellent ambassadors for our school.

GERMAN EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Students at McKinnon are counting already the days to their return visit to Germany at the end of March. Over the coming two months students are expected to attend lunchtime sessions to prepare themselves for school and family life in Germany.

McKinnon students will prepare bilingual presentations about Australia and will present them to classes in our sister school. They will also increase their general conversation skills in these additional lunchtime lessons.

An information evening for the departure will be held on Monday 6 March at 7:30pm in the Lecture Theatre.

LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE: HOW PARENTS CAN HELP

Please support your child in learning another language! The following article will give you a few tips!

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/learning-a-second-language/

Andrea Fowler

Head of Languages