Over the past nine days Catherine McAuley has welcomed a number of visiting Year 10 students from Iida Girls School, Nagano, Japan.
The visiting students have joined classes with Catherine McAuley students in addition to attending intensive English lessons.
For Catherine McAuley Japanese language students this has been a wonderful opportunity to practise their language skills and share cultural differences with each other. For example, the Year 10 Japanese class enjoyed introducing the Japanese students to Australian delicacies such as vegemite, fairy bread and lamingtons whilst the Year 9 Japanese language students had the opportunity to show the visiting students around the school campus.
The students from Iida Girls School have been most surprised at how lunchtime is conducted at Catherine McAuley as they said in Japan the students don’t go outdoors for their lunch break. “I have enjoyed lunch time the most as it is very different to lunch time at our school”, said one of the visiting students. “In Japan we don’t eat our lunch outside. We have to eat our lunch in the classroom. I like that here you can play sports and move around”. The Catherine McAuley Thursday afternoon of sport and activities was another highlight. “The sports afternoon was amazing”, said one student.
The Principal of Iida Girls School presented the school with a beautiful ‘mizuhiki’ artwork of the Catherine McAuley school logo. Mizuhiki is an ancient Japanese art form of knot tying and is often used as a gift for special occasions. On the students’ final day on Tuesday this week Ms Grigson, Acting Principal, presented the students with a certificate and McAuley tote bag to commemorate their time with us. The Year 9 Catherine McAuley students in attendance at the presentation also joined Ms Grigson in a Mercy blessing.
Jacqui Hamilton | School Development Officer
Catherine McAuley Westmead
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