Imagine being in a classroom where students can happily greet each other in French, Chinese or a range of different languages. At Haileybury, this can happen every day, no matter what the year level.
From “bonjour” to “namaste,” Prep students can confidently greet each other in multiple languages, demonstrating their growing linguistic abilities. This development is the result of a new approach to language learning introduced at Haileybury this year.
Junior School students now benefit from an emphasis on building a foundational understanding of how languages function, as well as fostering their broader cultural awareness through a new subject called Languages and Cultures. This new approach lays the groundwork for more specialised future language studies.
As part of their studies the Preps have explored different language terms and discovered the diverse names for family members across diverse cultures. The aim is to build strong foundations of linguistic and cultural awareness so students can excel in specialist language studies as they advance through the School.
Stanley Wang, Deputy Principal One Haileybury, highlights the importance of this approach. “We want to give students a foundation so they can choose a language of specialist study with the comprehensive background knowledge and cultural appreciation that will set them up for success.”
Importantly, Haileybury’s new approach to language learning in the junior years actively encourages students to express their authentic selves and share their cultural backgrounds with their peers. This results in students gaining understandings from both the curriculum and each other, fostering inclusiveness, a sense of community and engagement.
The approach is also engaging the prep students and sparking their curiosity. As Prep student Shakthi says, “I like Languages and Cultures because we get to write our names in different languages.” Similarly, Prep Rivaan enjoys the interactive nature of the classes explaining, “I like how we do lots of activities and sing songs in our class.” While Prep Jace says, “Everyone at our school loves Languages and Cultures and never wants to miss that class. It’s so much fun!”
Teachers have also noticed the positive impacts in the classroom.
“The Languages and Cultures program has been running very positively. It is rewarding to see students actively engaging with a variety of cultures and making connections in their own learning. Students gain a deeper appreciation that people and cultures can approach life in different ways, and that these differences are something to respect and celebrate. It has been a real highlight to see the students’ curiosity and intercultural understanding continue to develop,” says Head of Languages and Cultures (Junior School) Vivian Liu.
The philosophy of encouraging curiosity and appreciation of different cultures aligns with the School’s broader educational approach and best practice on how children learn and remember effectively.
The new program was introduced this year in Prep and will be progressively expanded across the year levels. From Year 1, students will be connected with overseas peers, fostering enriched learning and further cultural connections.
By Years 5 and 6, Haileybury students will undertake specialist language taster units, preparing them for in-depth language learning from Year 7 onwards. The language options, while not available at every campus, include Background and Non-Background Chinese, French and Japanese. Latin may also be selected as an additional language from Year 8 by approval, ensuring that every student can undertake a language program that best meets their needs and learning preferences.
Importantly, from Year 8, students can also enrich their language learning through optional participation in international trips and exchanges.
The trips vary yearly with previous international language trips going to China, France, Japan and Mauritius.
In the meantime, the Preps are enthusiastically greeting each other in different languages. It is a Languages and Culture program that enriches learning and is also sparking joy in our students as they discover new ways to connect with others.
