In NSW high schools, languages is a key learning area.
Language study allows students to develop communication skills, learn about languages as systems and explore the relationship between language and culture. Students engage with the linguistic and cultural diversity of societies and reflect on their understanding of social interactions.
The study of a language is compulsory for 100 hours in one continuous school year from Year 7 to Year 10, but preferably in Years 7 or 8.
In Years 11 and 12, NSW schools offer a wide variety of languages, catering for beginning students to background speakers.
About languages at Liverpool Girls High School
Languages are committed to a creative, dynamic, and inclusive learning environment by focusing on creating excellence in learning partnerships with students widening understanding of language and culture.
Liverpool Girls High School offers Italian, French, and Spanish in both stages 4 and 6. The aim of languages is to enable students to develop skills in effective communication, knowledge of the nature of language, and gain insights into the interdependence between language and culture.
Faculty focus areas
- Continuous development and refinement of teaching and learning programs embedding literacy and numeracy strategy as part of regular and focused learning.
- Exploring ways to embed technology into teaching and learning programs to enhance student engagement and learning.
- Develop ways to embed on-line learning in Stage 4 using Chromebooks.
- Revise and refine assessment practice as "Evidence of Learning" through a range of meaningful and realistic assessment methods that focus on assessment for, assessment as and assessment of learning.
- Experiment with a variety of student based activities to increase student engagement.
Our strategies
- Cross faculty learning teams to explore ways of innovating learning to engage students purposefully in the study of languages.
- Collaborative planning and workshop activities to address student engagement.
- Collaborative sharing of program and teaching approaches building a collaborative and shared approach across the faculty.
- Using SMART information to embed areas of literacy and numeracy into the teaching and learning programs, where students need more focused development in the context of languages.