With a gentle voice and a lively gaze, Fabiana Padova, a young Italian teacher, recounts how in just two years she was able to grow the Italian School of the Dante Alighieri Society of Perth, which has now been accredited as the first registered Italian Community School in Western Australia.
Two years ago, Padova decided to accept an offer from the Dante Alighieri Society to teach Italian to a group of children on Saturday mornings. Already busy with her work at Holy Cross College during the week, she nevertheless agreed to dedicate her free time to the organisation as a volunteer, in support of the dissemination of the Italian language.
Taking note of her skills, her colleagues and members of the Dante Alighieri committee offered her the role of language school coordinator, putting her in charge of all courses for children and young people up to the age of 18.
Originally from Arona, on Lake Maggiore, Padova landed in Perth in 2009, immediately after graduating from an Interpreting and Communication degree in Milan.
She hadn’t initially planned on becoming a teacher but, once in Australia, she decided to enrol at Murdoch University to obtain the qualifications necessary to teach in schools.
From that moment on, teaching Italian became her vocation.
As a school coordinator of the Dante, Padova tried to breathe new life into the institution, first and foremost, by registering it as an Italian Community School.
"The registration has greatly improved the community's perception of the school, recognising it as the leading provider of children's courses with qualified staff in Perth. Since the beginning of the year, we have more than tripled the number of enrolments up to the age of 18, not least because we are also recognised for the ATAR course for Years 11 and 12 by the Western Australia Ministerial Authority," she points out.
The teachers, six in all, are native speakers ―qualified, registered and experienced in their profession.
With the registration and the resulting increase in the number of students, Padova has been able to make what she calls a radical and very important change to the school, dividing the children between those who are bilingual and those who study Italian as a second language.
"We cannot structure lessons for children who speak Italian at home with at least one of their parents with the same criteria applied for those who have never had any contact with the language ― they have different needs. Bilingual children arrive with a lot of knowledge, so much so that they socialise with each other in Italian at school,” Fabiana Padova explains.
The sense of belonging that was created among the children and then their families was the spark that drove Fabiana Padova to start the bureaucratic process to obtain recognition as a community school.
"By involving the parents in the activities of the school, a real community was created - one that was very different from what might have been the reality of the migrants who arrived from the 1950s to the 1970s. The new Italian families in Perth who have migrated in the last 15 years are all well integrated, and attend the Dante School to allow their children to get in touch with the Italian culture, as well as the language," Padova continues.
"The school for them is almost like an extension of home, to the extent that the parents even make friends and hang out with each other.”
That strong sense of belonging and teamwork drives Padova to keep thinking big:
"My dream would be to make this school the first bilingual one in Perth.”
All that remains is to wait and see how much more the dedication and determination of the committee members of the Dante Alighieri Society of Perth will be able to do for the Italian community.
