2020 Term 4 NEWSLETTER

Principal’s message

Principal
Hilary Hughes

Term 4 has brought us back our students! It’s been wonderful to see so many bright, happy eager faces at the face to face lesson days. There has been a lot of fun and learning.

Congratulations to our 2020 Year 12 students who have now finished their HSC exams after a particularly stressful year. We’ve heard from many of them, thanking their wonderful teachers for the care and support they have received throughout their course.

Our Student Wellbeing Team has now completed our new Quiet room for students experiencing stress or anxiety. It is equipped with special sensory toys, posters and mats to help students calm their emotions.

The whole staff is currently working on the school’s 2021 - 2024 Strategic Improvement Plan. The wider school community will be consulted in the near future on our ideas for making our school an even better experience for our students and teachers.

I wish you all a peaceful end to this year and
a relaxing break in January.

35 West street, Petersham
NSW 2049
P: 02 9381 4800
Email

Year 11 Preliminary Exams

Education Perfect

What a massive accomplishment!
All NSL exams were held in the Home Schools in Term 3, Week 7 and 8. This involved many phone lines/Zoom sessions for speaking exams and a lot of printing and scanning of exam papers, as well as the supervision of these exams.
NSL acknowledges and thanks all of our supervisors for their exceptional work and support during the Year 11 exams.
Many of our supervisors also showed their appreciation for our efforts:
“Thank you NSL, to you and all your staff who are doing a fantastic job with all our students. It is greatly appreciated.”
And thank you to all our supervisors for their dedication and hard work!

Astra Vilkins
Head Teacher Administration

Education Perfect is an online resource
that NSL has used to supplement and
reinforce language learning. This year our students have answered 1,150,219 questions and attempted 913 lessons.
The most popular languages our students have accessed in Education Perfect were Spanish and Japanese.
Education Perfect is being offered to our students at a discount price - $30/year (+$3.00 for Paypal processing). The resource is not mandatory; however we encourage your child to consider this option.
This online resource will support NSL students to keep working through the summer vacation in beginning or maintaining their language studies.

It is available in the following languages at these levels: Beginners, Continuers and Years 9 and 10.
German, Japanese, Indonesian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Modern Greek, French, Italian, Spanish,
Latin, ESL = EAL/D

Please note: Education Perfect Languages does not offer courses in the following: Languages in Context, Languages and Literature and Extension courses.
Our 2020 students who have subscribed to Education Perfect Languages will need to renew their subscription for 2021.
Total Cost: $33.00 for 1 year subscription
(2020 - 2021)
NSL invites all our current and new 2021 students to subscribe to the 2020- 2021 Education Perfect Languages.
Here is the new payment link:

EP = student’s full name
Please enter the student’s email address, not the parent’s/guardian’s email address.
If your student doesn’t receive an email from Education Perfect within 24 hours with their login details please email Education Perfect: nsw@educationperfect.com
Please go to the Education Perfect login page

NSL rises to the Linguafest Challenge!

Special Awards list 2020

Students of Korean and Italian entered short films into the Modern Language Teachers Association 2020 Linguafest competition.

Our 14 Korean participants could not meet each other, so they filmed themselves based on the prescribed theme and item “a challenge” and “a lunchbox.” Their videos were collated and the short film “Where is my lunchbox?” was created.

Italian students Chiara Lo Pilato and Elena Polombi-Luff entered their film “La Chiazza” (The Stain). The combination of Italian, classical music and dramatic editing presents a creative approach to stain removal.

Congratulations to our talented film producers and their teachers!

Links to Films

Long Tan Year 12
Charles McElvogue
Year 12 Japanese Beginners
Long Tan Year 10
Michelle Hoffman
Year 10 German
Caltex All Rounder Award
Jasmine Burrows
Year 12 Chinese Beginners
Reuben F Scarf Award
Damia O’Loughlin
Year 11 Spanish Beginners

Principal Awards

Korean video

Italian video

Long Tan nominees:
Victoria Zambetti
Year 12 Italian Beginners
Keith Xiao
Year 12 German Continuers
Sophia Favaloro
Year 12 Spanish Beginners
Elena Aigner
Year 10 German
Caltex All Rounder nominees:
Chiara Candotti
Year 12 German Continuers
Dominic Erbacher
Year 12 Indonesian Beginners
Reuben F Scarf nominees:
Maiike Hadfield
Year 11 Indonesian Continuers
Seren Topalogu
Year 11 Indonesian Continuers
Elise Murase
Year 11 Italian Beginners

Jasmine Burrows

2020 Caltex All Rounder Award Recipient
Jasmine Burrows - Year 11 Chinese Beginners

Jasmine is a driven and motivated student who strives to do her best in all her subjects. She was the Dux of Year 11 and received the prestigious ‘Student of the Year’ award due to her contribution to activities both within and outside the school community. During her studies in Years 11 and 12, she has achieved overall first place in the subjects of English Advanced, English Extension, Chinese Beginners, Italian Continuers and Music 1.

Jasmine’s results reflect her work ethic and academic ability. She has an exceptional, mature mind with an eye for detail and a true passion for learning. It is for all these reasons that Jasmine has been a worthy recipient of the 2020 Caltex All Rounder Award.

Annie Deng
Teacher of Chinese

Damia O’Loughlin

2020 Reuben F. Scarf Award Recipient
Year 11 Spanish Beginners

Damia is an outstanding student. She submits her units according to the course schedule and she goes above and beyond to improve her language level and overcome the difficulties of learning a foreign language.

She demonstrates commitment through diligence and dedication to completing work and self-improvement. She also works consistently to address issues and seeks feedback to ensure continued improvement.

As well as being a committed student, Damia also demonstrates leadership through taking on volunteering opportunities both in her local school and in the wider community.

At her rural school, Carroll College, she has volunteered for the school environment group, she has performed at school events as part of multiple bands and has also volunteered in the school canteen.

In the wider community, she has demonstrated leadership through volunteering for the local youth council, running community events and she is currently a member of Headspace Youth Advisory Committee.

Damia is an outstanding student, an example of consistency and self-improvement which makes her the ideal recipient of the 2020 Reuben F. Scarf Award.

Catherine Rodriguez
Teacher of Spanish

Thoughts from a Graduating Year 12 Student

“I was initially drawn to the French language because of how beautiful and romantic it sounded when spoken in film and TV. However, I quickly gained a deeper appreciation of the culture behind the language through the French Beginners course at NSL.

Learning an entirely new language via distance education was difficult and tedious at first. Despite that, it actually gave me the freedom and flexibility to do work at my own pace - a break from the fast-paced and hectic timetables in my home school. It exposed me to an unfamiliar learning environment, enabling me to develop study patterns that helped me cope with online classes during the pandemic and equipped me with the discipline and independence that would aid me in further studies.

I also started treating phone lessons as an opportunity to converse with a fluent speaker rather than a compulsory school task, which helped me cruise through the course. Face-to-face lesson days helped me consolidate concepts and allowed me to interact with other students going through the same challenges as me.

Although I want to pursue a career in the medical field, French will forever be close to my heart. I intend to continue studying French at university and participate in exchange programs to France and francophone countries.

Consistency, hard work and diligence are key to mastering a different tongue. But once you truly engage with it, you’ll see that it is actually worthwhile.”

Keanna Cabisidan
Year 12 French Beginners 2020

The lowdown on lockdown - Year 12 French Face-to-Face Lesson Days at NSL
During the recent lesson day, Year 12 French students and teachers were excited to see each other again. Some students and teachers observed the French dress theme as they engaged in a full day of language and culture activities ahead of the first HSC assessment task.
French Beginners students also reflected on this year of lockdown and the positive changes it made to their lives. Here is what some had to say:

With the lockdown I was able to immerse myself in French culture, watching French videos such as Equipe de France on YouTube and delving into the world of European and French fashion. My eyes have been opened to the beauty of French language and style.
Samuel Beatson

My passion for the piano was strengthened during lockdown when I learnt to play French songs.
Lauren Copta

I discovered the series, Emily in Paris, which is an illusion of Paris that many hold to be the reality of Paris.
Sophia Tran

Lockdown allowed me to escape into a "fantaisie française" with French books, films, and artworks.
Grace De Villa

The most exciting thing about learning French has been the ability to recognise the French language within the English language. It has been really interesting to discover English in what I would regard as a new and improved light.
Jessica Dearth

I watched the film, Amélie, during the lockdown which ignited my interest and I have vowed to visit the café where it was filmed when I next visit France.
Mirei Oguro

Thoughts from a student

“The reason I chose to learn German in high school was quite a silly one. I was about to start Year 8, and I knew I would only be able to be in my friend’s class if we both chose the same language to learn, so we both chose German. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up in the same class, but the variety of German films, songs and traditions we were shown piqued my interest from the get-go.

Having then been told that pursuing the language could lead to the opportunity of participating in an international exchange program, I continued to learn German, considering I’d never been outside the borders of Australia. Visiting Germany was the most exhilarating experience of my life! Among other places, I got to see Bremen and the famous Bremen Town Musicians of the Grimms’ fairy tale.

Learning German not only taught me patience and perspective, but it also allowed me to analyse the English language from a more linguistic and theoretical approach. Thus I find it not only interesting to learn another language, but also necessary. I believe students everywhere should strive to become bilingual, as it not only provides perspective regarding the difficulties that other nationalities face in learning English, but it also serves as a great career prospect. It is also really cool to be able to say that you can speak another language!

Because I learnt German throughout high school, I have now decided to major in German Studies at the University of Melbourne next year to consolidate my understanding of both German language and culture, hopefully providing me with the ability to use my language skills professionally both within Australia as well as abroad. I also hope to undertake another international exchange program; however, I would like to travel to Austria instead to observe the differences between Austrian and German culture and dialects.

My German course has made me more curious, passionate, and overall more interested in the world. I encourage all students to learn a language!”

Evie Thompson
Gosford High School

Year 12 German Lesson Days

Not only our students but also the teachers have missed the face-to-face lesson days at NSL. We were delighted to see so many Year 12 students attend the German Beginners and Continuers lesson days this term. Both were very enjoyable and productive days.

Beginners students really enjoyed the various games such as ‘fly swatter’ and the running translation activity which helped to improve their language skills in a fun and active way.

Continuers students enjoyed working collaboratively in groups with their classmates, producing short role plays and performing their skits to the whole class. The ‘Beat the Buzzer’ game was very popular and each team had great fun showing off how much they had learnt during the day.

Portuguese face-to-face lesson

On Monday, 9 November, we had our first face-to-face lesson for Year 12 Portuguese Continuers students. In the first session, the students got to know the existing class and the new students. Throughout the day, there was past exam practice, geography and culture, text types analysis and relaxation techniques.

It was a pleasure to meet all the students after a really hard year of lockdowns and face-to-face lessons cancelled. A day enjoyed by all!