In 2012, Gladstone Park was the first Government Secondary School in Victoria to offer CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in Italian. For more than ten years, hundreds of families of Year 7, 8 and 9 students, have witnessed the benefits of this pedagogy.
We currently offer Italian Immersion from Year 8. We seek expressions of interest from Year 7 students in Term 3 for a start in the following year. This is open to Gladstone Park students and those applying to start with the school in Year 8.
Over the years, in line with the Victorian Curriculum, our expert teachers have developed and refined original and engaging History and Geography units of work. The content is delivered through extensive use of visuals resources and ICT-based activities. Assessment is generally in Italian. We see consistently strong academic growth in our Italian Immersion students. In addition to academic success, the CLIL program at Gladstone Park provides our students with a uniquely nurturing social experience. Unlike other students at the College, CLIL students stay together from their start to the end of Year 9, and continue together in Year 10 and VCE Italian. CLIL families have reported this is of great value to their children. Being in the same class helps them to form strong bonds with like-minded students who work collaboratively and support each other in a unique and stimulating environment.
The enormous academic benefits of CLIL for our students are clear. CLIL not only benefits our students’ Italian language learning through a more engaging and relevant process of language acquisition, but also gives them a better retention of the content taught. Within the CLIL program, students’ ability to focus improves dramatically. When they are concentrating on being able to understand what the teacher is saying in Italian, they are more focused and better able to retain information than when they are learning in English. Moreover, the higher intellectual engagement required in a CLIL class helps students to further improve their literacy skills, critical thinking, problem solving and overall academic success.
CLIL is highly regarded internationally and in the European Union, where 23 official Languages are spoken, and global citizenship is a priority. In Europe, it is compulsory for every student to take at least one subject through CLIL in their last year of High School.
Language Immersion Brochure available to view Click here
TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST PLEASE
Immersion Teaching Methodology video Click here
Media articles:
SBS – Teaching Italian through CLIL
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