LANGUAGES
Languages is the area of the curriculum where students develop the knowledge, skills and understandings to communicate effectively and appropriately in another language. At John Wollaston, students from Pre-Primary to Year 8 study Japanese. If they so choose, students may then continue to study Japanese in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12.
Students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 study Japanese as an integral part of John Wollaston's International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.
In the early stages of learning there is an emphasis on
increasing confidence in understanding and responding to
familiar phrases and questions, copying and viewing short
authentic texts in Japanese. Students progress to being able to comprehend, communicate, read, write and express their opinion on a range of topics. Students are exposed to the Japanese scripts of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji as they progress to being able to use these characters when reading and writing in Japanese.
Each year students are introduced to the wonders and culture of Japan and enjoy putting their skills into practice when John Wollaston hosts Japanese exchange students from Shizuoka Gakuen, our sister school in Japan. The School celebrates Languages Week each year with students participating in a range of Japanese activities.
Japan Study Tours have been held in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Students explored Japan on a two-week study tour during which students were immersed in the Japanese lifestyle and used their Japanese language skills. John Wollaston hopes to continue to offer such a trip regularly to students studying Japanese in Years 10 and 11 when possible.
John Wollaston has had many successes in the Language Learning Area with students proceeding onto university using the knowledge that they have acquired.