Language
At the time of writing, the Languages KLA at Mooroolbark College is in the process of preparing for and eagerly anticipating the full return of students after months of lockdown!
During the lockdown students had the opportunity to participate actively in online classes and those who contributed consistently and to a high standard will find a small reward awaiting them on their return to school. It is our way of saying congratulations to those students who made a consistent effort during Remote Learning!
For any student who experienced difficulty with the online learning process, arrangements have been made to ensure they are given every opportunity to ‘get back into the swing of things’ and complete what is necessary by the end of Term 4. If any student needs further help, they need only ask – we are only too happy to help.
German News:
At the end of last Term, German oral assessments were due and we were very happy to see that those students who followed the weekly Learning Tasks and sent work in for correction and feedback had very little difficulty in completing the task and a significant proportion of students were able to demonstrate high levels of achievement to attain Merit Certificates, despite the Covid19 Lockdown. Students have been congratulated and Merits sent out.
The students of German at Mooroolbark College have really impressed their teachers with the way they have embraced learning German online. Thanks to technology, the students are able to listen to relevant audio files of the new work and they have been able to submit audio files back to us of themselves in an interview situation. This was no mean feat! The Year 7s did an interview about a fictitious missing pet and the Year 8s answered questions in an interview about their school subjects and their timetables. A couple of the outstanding pieces of work by Year 7 students, Aleisha Torriero and Michael Gore are attached. Their posters were first seen on the school’s Facebook.
We are looking forward to ending Remote Learning and returning to a full complement of students. We will focus on cultural activities at the end of Term 4, being careful to readjust our teaching to the new circumstances and providing the opportunities for all students to excel.
Chinese News:
At the end of Term 3 in our Chinese remote classes, Year 8 students investigated the symbol of Yin & Yang in depth, focusing on the underpinning philosophy – Daoism, as well as the associated form of exercise Tai Chi. They have used their excellent research skills to explore various aspects of this Ancient Chinese philosophy and created some wonderful pieces of work to present their findings and understanding. Attached are Joshua Clarke and Teagan Skell’s posters, but we have many more to display in our Mandarin classroom in C1!
With Remote Learning drawing to a close, we’re very excited to welcome back our Year 9 students who haven’t had a chance to meet their new Chinese teacher in person yet. Even so, thanks to technology, our students have enjoyed their learning throughout the lockdown and completed their assessment tasks to a high standard. Being able to type Chinese on computer rather than having to handwrite all the words has remarkably improved their confidence and skills in writing!
Of course, we do not want to forget our wonderful Year 7s who have coped so well with all the challenges this year. In recent weeks they have been learning body parts and basic adjectives in Chinese. For the CAT, they are expected to design a xiao guàiwù (little monster) of their own and form complete sentences to describe it. We look forward to reading their creative posters soon!
Jonas Bahlo / Andrea Henderson / Yi Jiang
Language Department