On Wednesday, September 8, St Martin’s hosted their pen pals from Our Lady of Lourdes, to celebrate the conclusion of the shared project, called ‘All About Me’, which began in the first trimester of the year.
The aim of the project was to put students in contact with the Italian language, through the old-fashioned method of writing letters.
For the young students, so used to the ease and efficacy of communicating online or via social media, the intimate and thoughtful nature of writing letters was certainly novel.
This method, paired with the use of the Italian language, excited the young children, who took to the project with enthusiasm.
Through the letters, students from both schools learned how to introduce and describe themselves, their families, their dreams, the places that they would like to visit in Italy one day, and their goals for the school year.
Under the watchful eye of Italian teachers Enza Camuglia, from St Martin’s, and Alfina Lofaro, from Our Lady of Lourdes, and thanks to the technical support of Marianne Ferguson, the students created a presentation titled ‘All About Me’.
In their first semester, students from each school met each other virtually, but to make the experience more complete, their teachers organised a lunch to be held on September 8.
After a 20-minute bus ride, students from Our Lady of Lourdes arrived at St Martin’s and finally met their pen pals in person.
The children had their lunch in the ANZAC Garden, played bocce and tried their hands at the Italian Escape Room.
After a day filled with Italian cultural experiences, it was fitting to end their activities with a scoop or two of gelato!
The students really enjoyed the project, and were keen to start it all over again, with fresh pen pals.
This fantastic initiative demonstrated that learning a language can be fun and entertaining, especially when the experience and methods are tailored to students.
