Italian is one of the specialist subjects offered as part Belle Vue Primary School’s curriculum. All children from Prep through to Grade 6 participate in a 50-minute lesson of Italian each week.
The emphasis of the program is on developing the child’s ability to communicate in the Italian language (specifically, assisting them to learn the knowledge, skills and behaviors relevant to the Italian language), as well as ensuring that the child develops intercultural knowledge and language awareness (that is, that they develop knowledge of the connections between language and culture and can understand how culture is embedded throughout the communication system). This is achieved through games, songs, stories, film, choral repetition, role-play, reading and writing centered around topics that are relevant to every child such as numbers, colours, family, food, animals, travel, sport and clothing and therefore rouse interest and engagement for learning.
As well as developing their skills to communicate in the Italian language and understand the Italian culture students are also further developing their understanding of their own language and culture. In this way, through comparison and reflection, children are developing their understanding of culture and humanity in a broad sense. This assists students to become interculturally aware citizens, which is of increasing importance at a time of rapid and deep globalisation.
