All year levels have the ability to learn a language, Japanese or Italian.
Years 7 and 8
Students study a half year of Japanese or Italian in year 7, ideally following on from primary school. In year 8 students choose an allocated language to continue for one year.
Students develop an understanding of how language works and how to apply language skills in a range of school and everyday social situations. Topics include friends, food, fashion and sport.
Year 9
With the focus on communication, learners engage in communicating in real or lifelike tasks centred on family, pets, leisure activities, milestones and growing up.
Students build on their prior learning and experiences to use languages to initiate and sustain interactions while sharing own and others' experiences. This is achieved through engaging in scenarios through tasks such as ordering in restaurants and comparing daily routines of Italian / Japanese and Australian teenagers in their social world.
Year 10
Students continue to receive guidance as they listen, speak, read and write to communicate present, past and future experiences in a local and global setting. Emphasis is placed on extending students' communicating and exchanging ideas through travel blogs, create and plan for their future home, and inform readers in a bilingual travel magazine about festivals and events that take place in Italy / Japan.
Years 11 and 12:
As students prepare for ATAR, learning a language involves learning about people and culture. Students will study a wide variety of topics drawn from four key themes:
• My world
• Exploring our world
• Our society
• My future
Learning a language opens up opportunities to pathways in the Arts, Business and Tourism, but also to study abroad, travel and live-in parts of the world that would not have been possible without the local language.