As we welcome our Japanese sister school to the College this week, we take a look back to where this connection began, along with our connection to Italy — with both Japanese and Italian being taught at MLMC for many years.
In 1995, Principal Mr John Goodfellow employed Ms Jan Russell as the first Japanese language teacher at the College. She later wrote: “He gave me license to create a program in which learning a second language was a deeply meaningful experience for our students and developing a sister school program was the core of that ideal.”
Through a mediation organisation, the College was put in touch with Katagiri Senior High School in Nara, Japan. It later became Horyuji Kokusai High School and designated a UNESCO school. Reciprocal visits to each school by the Principals paved the way for them to become sister schools and for the students to travel overseas to visit each other’s institutions.
The success of the program led to a second sister school relationship being established with Instituti Superiore Giovanni Lanza in Casale Monferrato in northern Italy and a similar exchange opportunity for students grew. As Mrs Diane Scukovic, LOTE coordinator, wrote in Coolock 2000 “links with sister schools overseas give language students the opportunity to experience another language and culture”. LOTE French students have visited France and New Caledonia in the past.
Some of our students are pictured above with Mrs Russell and Sister Madeleine Fox in Japan, while photos from past student trips to Japan and Italy are shared below.
