Sister School Launch

Olive Tree teacher Vicki Xie (far left) and St Catherine’s teachers of Chinese Winnie Xie (left) Sandy Yao (right), at the farewell luncheon for the Olive Tree Academy exchange students.

We have just farewelled our first visitors from the Olive Tree Academy. Four students from our new sister school were selected to participate in a St Catherine’s exchange in a school-wide competition based on their English language skills. And we can attest to their skill! At Olive Tree School the English language is a compulsory subject for all students until Year 12. The students were paired with their Year 11 exchange sisters Hope Kudelka, Yi Jia (Erika) Tan, and Lauren Lew. These girls will undertake their reciprocal exchange in Hangzhou this December, while Emma Robertson (Year 10) will undertake her exchange in 2019. We are also grateful for the generous participation of the Graham family (Katherine, Year 7) for hosting.

Erika Tan (Year 11) developed a close friendship with exchange sister Maria Xu, and looks forward to seeing her again in December.

Students and parents carefully consider when is the best time to undertake an exchange to enhance and support their second language learning. Year 10 students often return from exchange with greater motivation to commit to continuing a language for their final two years. Other students choose to travel at the end of Year 11, knowing that they will return to embark upon Year 12 with enhanced language skills. We, in turn, welcome students from China, Japan and France who have a range of ages and life experiences, knowing that there are rich rewards, both personal and academic.

If your daughter would be interested in participating in an exchange in 2019, applications are due in after the Melbourne Cup weekend. Please consider this option and contact me at apianezze@stcatherines.net.au.

Oral Examinations

While our students of Chinese were enjoying their exchange, our VCE students have been working hard for their first external test: the Oral Examination. This 15 minute discussion in the target language is the product of years of practice. In front of two VCAA examiners, students discuss topics of general conversation and then converse on a prepared ‘detailed study’. Our topics this year were: for Japanese: Learning English in Japan; French: The Changing Role of Women throughout History; Chinese: School Life in China. Students have been supported during Year 11 and Year 12 by regular practice with our native-speaking Language Assistants. This regular coaching builds fluency, confidence and the capacity to guide the conversation in order to display their oral skills to their best advantage. Many of our Year 12 students have themselves participated in an immersion exchange. They speak warmly of this experience, not only for their personal growth but also, for their aural and oral skill development. As daunting as an oral examination is for students, there was enormous satisfaction this week, when they achieved this important milestone in their language learning.