Languages at St Robert's

There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning.' (1 Corinthians 14:10)​

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At St Robert’s we implement a contemporary pedagogical approach to  Italian Language teaching called TCL, Teachers as Co-Learners. TCL is a whole school approach where all students, teachers and school communities are involved and empowered to be successful at learning Languages. Daily lessons provide an opportunity to positively influence attitudes and core beliefs about learning languages through students frequently experiencing success.

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We understand that learners need to hear and use new functional words up to at least 40 times before they retain them.  This is achieved daily through short 15 minute  high frequency language sessions delivered by classroom teachers, embedding effective literacy and language learning practices. Frequent exposure to languages combats the forgetting curve and enhances effective learning.  

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All teachers and students are co-learners of the Italian language and are supported by a proficient speaking Language Assistant who supports the learning journey. Classroom teachers are a core part of the TCL approach: they know their students best, which allows connections to be deepened as they share their co-learning journey together and model risk-taking to their students.

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The TCL approach and curriculum design are underpinned by the principles of Science of Learning, Applied Linguistics and Dr Gianfranco Conti’s Extensive Processing Instruction: explicit and direct instruction, reduction of cognitive load, constant feedback, content retrieval and frequent review of core content.

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Once yearly, in Semester Two, classroom teachers report on the Italian Languages Curriculum via our End of Year Report and  Seesaw.