VCE Italian Class – UN Mock Conference Event

Students were asked to share their thoughts on the UN Mock Conference they attended on Tuesday 29 July. Please find some reflections below from the day.

Student Reflections

Our 2025 VCE Italian class were privileged to attend a Model UN conference with many other schools and Italian students around Melbourne. This gave us the opportunity not only to improve our fluency in Italian speaking skills, but also to refine our debating skills in an environment similar to a genuine UN conference.

In two groups, we represented Bangladesh and the Philippines, tasked with presenting position statements, debating the caucus, and writing and defending amendments to the draft resolution, all whilst bearing in mind our previous research of each respective country’s political stance to the assigned topic of Ocean Conservation. I’m very grateful for this invaluable opportunity, leaving us all with more experience and confidence in Italian public speaking!

Eloise Holborn

Year 11

On 29 July we were lucky enough to experience a model United Nations conference entirely in Italian. All the participating schools represented different countries debating the pressing topic of Ocean Conservation. Prior to the event, our Kilbreda class was split into two teams of Bangladesh and the Philippines, in which we prepared short speeches to give at the conference. When the day arrived, we presented the statements we had prepared and practised in the first session of the conference. After a short break period where delicious refreshments were provided, the conference resumed with the second session. Countries debated their statements and encouraged other countries to sign their draft resolutions. In the final session, all the countries voted on which amendments were passed or scrapped. I and my fellow pupils are very grateful for this enjoyable and enlightening experience. 

Angelina Delvecchio

Year 11

The Italian Model United Nations conference was an excellent opportunity to deepen my language skills, meet like-minded VCE Italian students and engage in real-world discussions about global issues. It helped me build confidence in speaking Italian and learn more about how international meetings work. I also enjoyed working in teams and seeing how different opinions could come together to find solutions. Overall, it was a valuable and enjoyable experience that helped me grow both personally and academically.

Helena Siliga

Year 12

The Italian Model United Nations conference was an excellent opportunity to deepen my language skills, meet like-minded VCE Italian students and engage in real-world discussions about global issues. It helped me build confidence in speaking Italian and learn more about how international meetings work. I also enjoyed working in teams and seeing how different opinions could come together to find solutions. Overall, it was a valuable and enjoyable experience that helped me grow both personally and academically.

Kara Di Mascolo

Year 12

The Model UN conference was a great experience that allowed me to expand my Italian skills and communicate with others in a different language. Initially, I was nervous about speaking in front of a large audience in Italian, but as the day went on, the nerves went away. We also had a chance to meet other students from different schools with the same passion for learning Italian. Working together to come up with a new resolution as a group allowed us to use and grow our teamwork and collaboration skills. Overall, the day was lots of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to grow their language skills.

Emilia Drozdz

Year 12

The UN Mock Conference was an enriching experience that allowed me to advance my Italian speaking skills in front of different people. We were able to present our speeches in Italian, allowing us to practise speaking a different language in front of a large group of people. We also were able to engage in impromptu speaking in Italian in front of the UN General Assembly, which was beneficial for our confidence. It was interesting to listen to what other people who are also learning Italian had to say and it also aided in expanding our vocabulary.

Annabelle McHugh

Year 12

Lucia Barbera

Teacher

Year 8 Languages Workshop

Student Reflections

Last week on 6 August, our Japanese class, plus a few Compass students, had the pleasure of participating in cultural activities relating to Japan. We first started by watching a video that briefly explained the history and uses of origami. This helped us to learn more about the craft before delving into actually creating something. After the video, Yamanaka Sensei then proceeded to teach us how to fold a simple fox. Her demonstration, along with the instructions and images on the board, helped make it easy to follow and to create our origami fox. We were then allowed to draw on any details to enhance the appearance of the fox.

The next creation was an origami heart. After picking what pattern/colour we liked from the many differently patterned origami paper, we followed the more advanced tutorial. Although along the way the instructions seemed to increase in difficulty, Yamanaka Sensei guided us through, folding alongside us to give us a physical demonstration. Difficulty aside, this activity was a fun task that helped us to further immerse ourselves in Japanese culture and the whole class thoroughly enjoyed it.

After we put our origami skills to the test, we had Nikita McFayden, a current Year 12 student learning Japanese, tell us about her experience of learning Japanese throughout the years, study tips and tricks and also the school’s trip to Japan. We all really enjoyed the journey she took us through, giving us a whole new perspective of how learning a language can really become a passion and a deeper understanding of culture. 

We are so thankful for this opportunity to explore Japan at its best and look forward to seeing what Japanese has in store for us.

Hannah Lau and Sia Kaushik

Year 8

On 6 August, the Year 8 cohort participated in a special language activity day for Periods 4 and 5. We experienced a variety of Japanese, Italian and French cultural activities, led by our language teachers: Yamanaka-sensei, Sakurai-sensei, Miss Cristiano, Mr Murril, Madame Barbera, Miss Malagnaggi, Miss Diblasi and more. 

Because we study Japanese, our group enjoyed many fun activities like origami, mochi tasting, a guest speaker and watching a fascinating anime movie. After we dedicated ourselves to origami, Sakurai-sensei rewarded the class with a mochi tasting. We enjoyed delicious vanilla-flavoured mochi, it was the best “ice cream” I’ve ever had! The mochi had a stretchy, chewy exterior and a creamy vanilla-ice-cream centre.

After we finished that tasty mochi, Sakurai-Sensei surprised us again with some delicious popcorn to eat with the movie. The movie we watched was highly entertaining and quite different from what we usually watch on Netflix. It was Ponyo, the story of a five-year-old boy who falls in love with Ponyo, a little goldfish who transforms into a human through the power of love. Unfortunately, it was a short Wednesday, so we didn’t have as much time as we’d hoped, but the part of the movie we did see was a lot of fun.

This incredible 80 minutes of the day was such a highlight of the term, even though not everyone in Year 8 studies French or Italian, we know how much fun they must have had with their own activities! We had a brilliant time forming new friendships and diving deeper into Japanese culture. We hope next year’s Year 8 enjoys just as much fun as we did!

Scarlett Ahern

Year 8 

Hideaki Sakuri

Teacher

Giovanni Di Fabrizio

Learning Leader: Languages