World Languages Growth Plan: St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA

World Languages Growth Plan:
St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA

The benefits of learning a language are significant.

Learning a language improves the neuroplasticity of the brain, it can quite literally make you smarter. The promotion of cognitive development, enhanced memory and critical thinking skills can set young Australians up to succeed. Learning another language is actually proven to improve performance in other academic areas as well and will even improve individuals’ awareness of their first language.

All of those benefits are significant without even taking into consideration the value students receive in being exposed to another culture. In a world deeply affected by COVID-19 and capacity to travel overseas being limited, through no fault of our own, our lives have become more insular. The need to develop global citizens is more important than ever, and exposure to another language and culture is vital in equipping young Australians with the knowledge, skills, and values to thrive in a globalised world.

Part 1: History and Growth Plan for the future

We are proud of our cooperation with St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA to date and want to support a whole school vision for World Languages:

2021 – 7 classrooms learning Mandarin with Meg, K-6

Aspiration for 2022:
Expand the program to the full school, offering students Mandarin from Pre-K with our immersive Meg Early Years Program

  • Captialise on peak time for language acquisition by beginning Mandarin in Pre-K
  • Provide leadership opportunities for staff and students by holding student run culture events
  • Inform parent community of language learning opportunities by providing a Mandarin demonstration at your next open night
Part 2: Internationalising your School

2022 School Year:

In addition to the provision of our World Languages program, Meg’s in-house experts will work with your school – free of charge – to help develop a strategy to internationalise the school more broadly in the pursuit of developing Global Citizens

St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA will be given the opportunity to conduct a gap analysis against Meg’s Internationalising Schools Framework to identify the school’s focus areas for next year and beyond.

Upskilling classroom teachers

As part of our Going Global Initiative, professional learning days and self-paced online professional learning courses are provided to teachers to get the most out of the program and to help develop a Global Classroom.

Trips to China

In a pre-covid world, Meg was hosting regular study tours to China for both students and educators. When the threat of covid has subsided, we will be in a position to provide St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA with these types of exciting international opportunities.

At Meg, we are very familiar with how to start small with one of our partner schools and grow over time as we continue to add value beyond just our World Language programs.
To understand the journey we’ve had with one of our largest partner schools, check out this Case Study.

Mernda Primary School

SEE GOING GLOBAL IN ACTION

Part 3: Engagement of Community

Beyond engaging your students and your staff, we take great pride in being able to engage your broader school community in regards to languages and culture.

Developing a community of learners

As the world returns to normal, Meg is excited about engaging St Joseph’s School, PINJARRA with many forms of developing a community of learners, including:

  • Engaging your parent community with parent night demonstrations that include such activities as tai chi demonstrations, cooking courses and an introduction to Mandarin language
  • Student-run Chinese festivals in the local community
  • Using technology such as chat bots and virtual reality to engage the school community in technology based interactions

 

We’re excited about the future and we want you to be too.

Please contact me to discuss how we can grow together next year.

Naomi Hawking

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