Languages

It has been a busy couple of weeks with students engaging in various opportunities available to them through their study of Japanese. 

Last weekend, we farewelled 5 of our Year 10 students who will be on exchange at our sister school in Japan, Reitaku Mizunami, for 3 months. This is the first time we have been able to send students overseas for quite a few years. 

This exchange program has been running since 2011 and the students will experience Japanese school life firsthand as well as have the chance to live with Japanese families. We know the 5 students – Amy Wise, Harrison White, Lana Wirth, Lily Wise and Tobie Dugdale - will have a fantastic time. 

Recently, more of our Year 8 Japanese classes were fortunate enough to speak to another of our sister schools, Seiwa Girls High School. These online speaking experiences were part of Seiwa’s Open day activities and it was very exciting to see our students being able to use their Japanese to communicate. 

Students were able to introduce themselves, talk about their families, where they live, what they like and much more. There were lots of smiles and laughs and new friendships were formed with many of the participants eager to stay in touch. 

In the past few weeks, Japanese food has also been explored with our Year 11 and 12 students enjoying some sushi following their exams while the entire school was treated to the delicious noodle dish, Yakisoba at the Year 9 and 10 stall at SJPC Day. 

A special thank you must be given to Mrs Leanne Gennat for her organisation of the Yakisoba stall and her amazing cooking skills. We would also like to thank the following students who helped out – the Year 10 Japanese class for their prep work (cutting up all the vegetables) and also to Harrison White, Kai Davidson, Alex Chau, Eamon Browne, Heather Murray, Nate Hensman, Koben Flanagan and Mr Joshuah Moore for their help on the day. It was a great success. 

Kirsten Binnie
Leader of Learning - Languages