The focus of the Italian program at Princes Hill Primary School is to ‘immerse’ students in Italian language and culture through lessons conducted in the target language; to provide frequent opportunities for communication in Italian through an activities/projects-based program; to assist students to develop understandings of how languages work, and of the Italian and Italo-Australian cultures; and to complement classroom learning experiences through links with other specialist and classroom areas. Each year the Visual Arts and Italian programs undertake a significant collaboration to provide students with the opportunity to explore both subject areas through bilingual Visual Arts/Italian experiences.
Students in Prep to Year 6 attend one session of Italian per week. In addition, extension classes, (Chiacchieroni,) are offered to highly motivated students in the
5/6 unit. These extension classes provide students with the opportunity to participate in intensive Italian language focus sessions and to develop further confidence in their use of Italian.
At Princes Hill students apply their learning in Italian in a variety of ways: through speaking and listening, reading and writing, creating art works, story books, posters, comics and board games, playing language games, participating in ICT experiences such as online games and game makers, and performance (dance and movement, puppetry, singing and role play).
Through contact and play with concrete materials the focus language is reinforced and made more real and meaningful. Everyday materials, toys, puppets and games provide support for oral and written learning experiences. Opportunities for authentic communication in the target language include a visit for the students in the 5/6 unit to a local gelateria where they interact with members of the Italian speaking community.
The annual Italian day is an opportunity for the whole school community to celebrate Italian language and culture and also allows for communication in the target language across the different age levels.
Our school is an active member of the Inner North LOTE network which organises further opportunities for students such as the annual Year 5 Italian camp at Creswick and Italian Poetry Competition for students in Years 3/4. These experiences allow students to interact with peers and teachers from neighbouring schools and are a source of much enjoyment and linguistic and cultural enrichment.
