BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) – High winds carried traditional Ukrainian music and prayers through the streets Sunday as hundreds of people gathered to show their support for Ukraine outside Binghamton City Hall.

Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said the rally was perhaps the largest held outside City Hall in the past decade. This happened as Ukraine continues to face a Russian invasion.

Anya Kostyk attended the rally alongside her husband and young daughter. She left Ukraine for the United States in 2019.

His parents live in a town an hour from Kiev, where they have remained since the start of the Russian attacks. Kostyk said without a car it is difficult for them to leave and the nearest train station that would take them west has been seized by Russian forces.

Kostyk said she visits family in Ukraine daily. His mother spent her birthday in an air-raid shelter.

Kostyk had hoped they would flee to Poland, but said it was no longer safe enough for his parents to travel.

“I feel torn emotionally, to pieces,” she said Sunday through her husband, Taras Kostyk. “We felt this pain in 2014 when the war started in the east, with the annexation of Crimea, but this pain is, you can’t even describe it in words right now, what we are feeling. “

She wants the United States and NATO member states to increase their assistance to those still in Ukraine. The couple and their young daughter, Adrianna, held up a sign urging NATO member countries to close their skies to Russian planes.

The US ban on Russian planes went into effect last week.

Authorities seek to resettle Ukrainian refugees, again

Many speakers at the rally declared their support for tougher statewide measures against Russia, including an end to state contracts with Russian companies.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order last week ordering all state agencies to review and withdraw public funds from Russia.

Broome County officials added that they were ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees. According to the United Nations, around 1.3 million people have fled Ukraine so far.

“We are ready, willing and able to help anyone who needs housing, either temporarily or permanently as a result of the violence in Ukraine,” the county manager said. of Broome, Jason Garnar.

The Binghamton area already hosts a large Ukrainian community, which has remained in the southern part for several generations. Orysia Czebiniak-Tunick’s mother was among many Ukrainians who came to Broome County via displaced persons camps in Germany after World War II.

Czebiniak-Tunick, who grew up in the town of Union, said she was raised to be proud of her Ukrainian heritage. She has remained involved in the Ukrainian community through the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and hopes to enroll her son in Ukrainian language school.

Czebiniak-Tunick said she was surprised by the influx of support for Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans.

“To see how many people have come out to support the community is beyond words for me,” Czebiniak-Tunick said.

Classes are stopped. We are at war.

Tom Sanchez woke up with these words last Thursday in the Ukrainian capital when Russia invaded its western neighbor.

Since late January, Irving’s lawyer had been in Ukraine studying Russian at the NovaMova International Language School in Kiev, where he had for several years to learn the language.

With Ukraine now defending itself from the second most powerful army in the world, Sanchez says he has no intention of leaving.

“Everyone in Kiev knew [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was going to attack,” he said, speaking on the phone to The Dallas Morning News Monday from his hotel room in Lviv, about 330 miles west of the Ukrainian capital.

After the invasion, Sanchez and his classmates tried to figure out what to do.

On previous trips, class sizes were larger, usually with students from other countries trying to earn college credit. This time, however, the classes were smaller.

Sanchez, who is 69, is an intellectual property lawyer, according to his LinkedIn page. A partner at Kelly & Krause of Dallas, Sanchez has lived in North Texas for about 20 years.

He said he served in the United States Marine Corps in the 1970s as a radio operator and knows what it feels like to drop a bomb, even from a distance. He recalled how the ground shook in Kyiv late last week.

“When something big hits, even if it’s 8km away, you’ll feel the ground moving,” he said. “The sound comes after.”

Flee Kyiv

Sanchez took a train to Lviv on Friday evening, a journey which under normal circumstances takes about eight hours. It turned into a 17 hour trip.

Women and children were boarded on available trains first, he said. Several men tried to sneak away with women and children, he said.

“Two of the big men who were waiting with their wives took them away and everyone cheered,” Sanchez said of those try to sneak.

When the men were finally allowed to board the trains, they were crammed into the carriages. Many of them stood for most of the ride, he said. People started offering seats to others so they could sit for about an hour before offering it to someone else, he said.

What made the ride even more miserable was how hot it was inside the crowded trains. Sanchez said temperatures reached over 84 degrees.

“It was very hot on that train,” he said.

Adding to the misery, Sanchez said, is that the train stopped several times. He thinks there was an effort to avoid areas where conflicts were occurring.

“The driver was quietly walking by and saying to everyone, ‘Put on your warm clothes, I’ll drive you to this side or this side of the train. Stay quiet,” Sanchez recalled.

“You could hear the shootings going on outside. It’s a wonder those train conductors allowed us to continue.

Stay safe for now

Sanchez is now in a hotel in Lviv, about 80 km from the Polish border. He said he recently received a call from a friend asking for help getting a young family member out of the country. He has since learned that they were unable to leave Kiev.

About 350,000 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, have fled to Poland, Ukraine’s western neighbor, according to media reports. Thousands are still waiting to enter the country, along with others including Romania and Hungary.

“All these people waiting in 10-mile queues to get into Poland, I don’t know how they survived the snow and the cold,” Sanchez said.

News

Where to donate to help Ukrainians

More than 500,000 refugees have now fled Ukraine as the war against Russia escalates. That number could climb to 4 million, according to a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency. Many in the United States want to help but are reluctant to send money to a country at war. Here is a list of established groups helping in Ukraine or neighboring countries currently hosting refugees.

He said the city so far is immune to military conflict, but described the mood as “stoic”. He said some restaurateurs were closing their stores early so people could sleep on the floor.

After 10 p.m., no one is allowed out, Sanchez said, and hotel guests practice bomb drills every night.

Although Sanchez planned to leave on February 20, he said he would stay from now on. When asked why, his response is simple: “I think the two kids in my class said it best: ‘If I’m here, my family will care; my country will care. Good enough for a 23 year old couple.

Sanchez said Russia’s invasion is not just a problem for Ukraine – something he said Ukrainians were aware of in the weeks leading up to the attack, and since 2014. He praised the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, describing it as “almost biblical”.

The current war is Putin’s push for world power, Sanchez said, and he doesn’t think Putin will stop with Ukraine if he succeeds.

As of now, Sanchez said, he hasn’t decided when he will return home.

“You should ask the guy in Moscow,” he said, referring to Putin. “You have to ask him what his plans are, and I’ll tell you what my plans are.”

Catherine Clinch, the 12-year-old star of An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), the first Irish-language film to play at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, was expecting a few days of red carpets and rowdy premieres. This is not how things happened. She and her family traveled to the German capital. Then Covid raised its head. There has been some confusion with an initial positive result. Confirmation came quickly.

“My mom and I were running around trying to find a test,” she says. “Eventually we found a place and this one was positive. So we didn’t end up going to the festival or anything. We ended up isolating ourselves.

His first experience of a major film festival was therefore room service in a Berlin hotel? “They didn’t even have room service,” said Tom Clinch, her father, with a tolerant laugh.

Colm Bairéad’s excellent film, which opens the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival on Wednesday, tells the story of a young girl who learns vital life lessons while spending a summer in the countryside with relatives. Tensions eventually open up to reveal the darkest of secrets. According to a news from Claire Keegan, the film had already attracted attention by obtaining its place in one of the “three big” European festivals (Cannes and Venice complete the winning trio). A triumphal premiere followed.

An Cailín Ciúin won the Generation Kplus international jury grand prize and received a special mention from the children’s jury.

Educated at Scoil Bhríde in Ranelagh, Catherine Clinch has show business blood in her veins. Her mother is internationally successful singer Méav Ní Mhaolchatha – identified as simply “Méav” on her album covers – but the lead role came as a surprise nonetheless.

Insulation

“I had musical theater lessons and other stuff,” she says from her isolation in Berlin. “But I’ve never been into anything like this before. I go to an Irish language school. They sent things to all the children attending an Irish language school to find someone fluent in Irish. During my audition, because of the Covid, it was recorded at home. And then we sent it to them. It was very close to the start of Covid when they were doing the audition.

She then did an audition in person. His parents then heard the good news.

“They discovered it before me obviously,” she says. “When we found out we were about to go on holiday to Cork. They sat me down and told me I got the part. I was very excited.

Produced for Cine4, an Irish-language partnership between Screen Ireland, TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, An Cailín Ciúin combines beautiful, smooth cinematography with superb performances from Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett. The budget wasn’t huge, but the first encounter with a professional film set is always a shock. The noise. The people. The endless wait.

“To be honest, I really didn’t know anything,” says Catherine Clinch. “It was actually a lot harder than expected. I spent my whole day there. I missed six weeks of school. I had a tutor, but I didn’t manage to do much work because I was in most of the scenes. I was basically working all the time. I didn’t expect that. I knew it would be hard, but I think it was a lot harder than I expected. was waiting.

And all of this was happening under Covid restrictions. Nell Roddy, co-founder of Break Out Pictures, the film’s Irish distributors, tells us that An Cailín Ciúin will hit commercial cinemas “later this year”. It now moves on to its privileged position as the opening title of the 20th Dublin International Film Festival and then the busy Glasgow Film Festival. Other festival slots are expected to follow. These premieres are always major events, but special attention is given to the first night. What does Catherine Clinch expect from Dublin’s red carpet shenanigans?

‘Excited’

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited. Obviously, I would have been better prepared,” she says, reflecting on her failure to make it to the Berlin premiere. “I have never attended a red carpet event before. It was supposed to be here, but I couldn’t go. So it’s even more important now. It’s the only chance I’ll have because I missed the other one.

It’s a great first cinematic performance from Catherine Clinch. The entire film revolves around her, and she maintains a singular focus throughout. Still, it seems like the opportunity came out of nowhere. Does she have any plans for action in the future? Could she make a career out of it? Is that an unfair question to ask someone so young?

“I mean . . . hopefully,” she says with impressive calm. “Obviously, I’m 12, so I don’t really know what my career will be. But I would enjoy it.

An Cailín Ciúin opens the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival on Wednesday 23 February

Denser cities and fewer green spaces. What is left for children when the urban landscape changes? It’s a big part of the architectural courses at Chalmers, but also the theme of this year’s technology competition where school pupils designed the playground of the future. In Gothenburg and other major cities, major densification projects are planned in the coming years. But how can the city be adapted to children when spaces are becoming denser and green spaces are becoming rarer? These are questions that Chalmers students reflect on daily in various projects, often in close collaboration with the city.

Several student projects have been carried out with a focus on the child’s perspective, for example in the Designing and Planning for Social Inclusion course where Chalmers Masters students designed and shaped a number of places suitable for children in the city, such as a parkour park, a space-themed playground, and an outdoor classroom, dubbed “The Story of Gärdsås Bog”.

– It is very important to raise the point of view of children, otherwise it is an easily forgotten group, because they do not have a voice in society in the same way as adults. Therefore, it is important for architects to practice listening to, engaging and involving children in every project, whether the project itself focuses on children or not, says Emilio Da Cruz Brandao, who teaches architecture at Chalmers and manages degree projects in the Masters. Architecture and Planning Beyond Sustainability program.

The students of the Reality Studio course work globally from the perspective of children and have, among other things, been involved in projects such as the construction of playgrounds and schools in Kenya.

– When the students return, they will present their process to the children here in Gothenburg, to show how important the children’s perspective is all over the world. It will be a very important learning process for everyone, says Emilio Da Cruz Brandao.

Victoria McCrea is a student who worked to elevate the children’s perspective and participated in the outdoor classroom construction project. In her diploma project, she designed a kindergarten and a language school together in the same building in Kortedala, Gothenburg. This project was based on her experience as an SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) pupil and preschool substitute in Gothenburg and was created in close cooperation with SFI teachers.

– I think it is important as an architect to gather the opinions of those who will use the places we create.

Today, Victoria McCrea works with design schools in an architect’s office in Lund, Sweden.

– It’s still early in my career, but I hope to be able to use all my experiences in future projects. Life after school is a completely different sea to navigate. Rarely do you work with clients who are willing to pay to incorporate the woodpecker, frog dance, and kids’ opinions into a project, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to create space for them!

The technology competition continues this theme

This year’s technology competition, aimed at fifth and sixth graders, is also tied to the theme of children’s perspective in the urban landscape. Students are tasked with building their vision of what a playground will look like in 100 years, building a creative model that will encourage them to play outside together. They had to work like real engineers, from the idea to the finished prototypes. Then they filmed their projects where they talk about what they want the playgrounds of the future to look like.

Almost 130 contributions were received from all over Sweden. Of these, six scholarships excelled the most and they are allowed to share 25,000 SEK in scholarships.

Dorotea Blank at Chalmers works to inspire and engage children and young people and was a driving force in the technology competition.

– Getting involved in developing the knowledge of future generations is one of the best investments in the future that Chalmers can make. I am convinced that students’ desire for technology and creative problem solving has been sparked by this year’s technology challenge. A big compliment to all the teachers who motivate, inspire and push the students. It should be noted that the children had a great time, she said.

This is confirmed by students from Bergsgårdsskolan in Angered, Gothenburg, who say the most fun thing about taking part in the tech competition was building and thinking about what the future will look like. And teacher Michaela Oskarsson agrees.

– We see that it is inspiring and rewarding for the children to get involved and that they have a good idea of ​​the technological subject and what an engineer can work with, she says.

The students’ contribution to the playground of the future in 2121 is now on display in various Gothenburg libraries.

Text: Vedrana Sivac and Johanna Fasth

Brooks Wrampelmeier

1934-2022

Brooks Wrampelmeier of Washington, DC died at home on February 9, 2022 at the age of 87 after a short illness. He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Ann Dartsch Wrampelmeier; daughter Susan Atkinson (Robert) and sons Peter and Christopher (Hortencia); his four grandchildren, Claire Atkinson, Cole, Claudia and Holly Wrampelmeier; his brother Kent Wrampelmeier (Linda); his brother-in-law Floyd White and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and sister Holly White.

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 27, 1934, and soon moved to nearby Wyoming where he grew up and attended high school. He graduated from Princeton University magna cum laude in 1956 with a BA in Near Eastern Studies, after spending his freshman year at the American University of Beirut. He then earned a master’s degree in international public policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1977.

He joined the US Foreign Service and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1956 where he met his wife on a blind date and they were later married in May 1958. His diplomatic career spanned focused on the Middle East, alternating between assignments in Washington and abroad. After attending the FSI Arabic language school in Lebanon, his overseas diplomatic assignments included Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Zambia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. His last posting was as Consul General in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, after which he retired in September 1989. Upon retirement, he continued to work part-time for the State Department assisting with requests for the Freedom of Information Act.

Brooks was kind, generous, and caring with a wonderful, self-deprecating sense of humor. He was unfailingly polite to everyone he met and many remember him fondly. He loved reading, crosswords, genealogy and classical music. He also served his DC community for many years as an election worker and later as a precinct captain.

A memorial service will be announced and held later in the spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), Bread for the City, or a food bank of your choice.

ROCKLAND – Penobscot Bay Language School is hosting its second Dinner & Discuss event of 2022 with an authentic meal inspired by Mexican cuisine, prepared by experienced culinary volunteers and staff.

The event will conclude with a lively discussion focused on the current humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexico border, including a presentation by recent Skidmore College graduate and dedicated humanitarian volunteer, Annie James, of Camden, who will recount the details of her recent volunteer trip with a non-profit organization serving immigrants and refugees at the US-Mexico border.

The dinner will be held Thursday, February 24 (doors open 5:30 p.m.), at 28 Gay Street, Rockland, ME 04841. Visit www.pebobscot.us (under the Cultural Events tab) to make reservations online, or call (207) 594-1084 for more information.

EVENT COVID POLICY: All attendees of the February 24 Dinner & Talk event at PBLS will be asked to present proof of vaccination (valid vaccination card, clear digital image or printout) and wear a mask when attending. are not sitting, eating and/or drinking. Symptomatic people are asked to stay home (regardless of their vaccination status). Space is limited to half capacity (20 guests) during the event to allow for greater social distancing between patrons.

“Thank you for helping us stay safe!” said PBLS, in a press release.

PBLS recently embarked on a journey to offer FREE English (ESL) lessons to “New Mainers”.

“As we launch our program in September 2021, we are becoming increasingly aware of the push-pull factors driving global migration,” PBLS said. “Climate change, devastated local economies, gang violence, foreign military intervention and so many other factors are causing people to make the difficult choice to leave their homes in search of a safe and prosperous future. Our interest in exploring the current crisis at the US-Mexico border is intended to help bring these conversations to light here at home in Maine, and to debunk many myths and misconceptions about what drives human migration around the world. .

Founded in 1986 as a non-profit language school and cultural exchange center, Penobscot Bay Language School has served over 6,000 locals and over 500 international students of all ages with language instruction and cultural programs. More than three decades later, we continue to promote our mission: to develop and provide opportunities for people in Midcoast Maine and around the world to explore our shared experience on Earth through the study and celebration of language and culture.

Cayden Shen will be on center court Friday night for the Long Island Nets basketball game, but it’s not the hoops that make him nervous and excited — a Lunar New Year performance makes him more anxious.

“It will be my first basketball game, so it will be really cool to attend and play,” 15-year-old Shen said. “There are a lot of people, so of course I’m nervous.”

Shen is among approximately 20 students from Tzu Chi Academy Long Island who will perform at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum as the Nets take on the Cleveland Charge in the NBA’s G League. The academy, which provides lessons at Oyster Bay Secondary School, is dedicated to teaching Chinese culture and instilling strong values ​​in children, the school principal said, Richard Chuang.

The Lunar New Year celebration, called Chinese New Year by Chinese Americans, began on Tuesday. This year commemorates the Year of the Tiger, which symbolizes strength, courage and bravery. The tiger also represents a means of chasing away evil spirits, according to Chinese tradition.

Ming Chiang, president of Hello Taiwan – an organization that advances Taiwanese culture – which helped organize the event, joked that he hopes the Year of the Tiger can chase away the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that the game is the perfect opportunity to support a local team while promoting Taiwanese culture.

“I think it’s great that we can hire some of our second and third generations [kids] sharing some of our Taiwanese heritage,” said Chiang, who also sits on the board of the Long Island Association, a business group.

Students from six other local Asian American schools will attend the event, Chiang added.

The show will include the singing of the national anthem, with violinist Yu Chen (Anthony) Tseng accompanying the group.

Chen and his brother, Darren, 12, are also part of a group of four people who will perform a routine using the Chinese yo-yo, a toy that dates back to the early 15th century and the Ming Dynasty. For performers, proficiency requires consistent technique, good hand-eye coordination, and patience.

Shen and Darren’s mother, Alice Lai, 44, of Roslyn, said her sons had been practicing Chinese yo-yos since they were in first grade. She stressed the importance for them to learn Taiwanese culture and spread it among their peers.

“This connection is very important,” Lai said. “The Chinese school, or foreign language school, is very rigorous, but I think the effort is worth it.”

Chuang said his students were excited about the opportunity to perform in front of a crowd after two years of virtual events due to the pandemic.

“The kids are so excited and they also want to bring joy to everyone at the game,” he said. “Lunar New Year is so important to the Asian community.”

In a statement, the Long Island Nets said the first 1,000 fans will receive a free t-shirt and will be auctioning off limited-edition SpongeBob SquarePants-themed jerseys. Proceeds will be donated to Hello Taiwan.

“We are thrilled to use basketball to unite all walks of life and come together to commemorate the Year of the Tiger – a year that represents strength and resilience,” said Alton Byrd, senior vice president of Growth Properties. at BSE Global, the parent company team.

Evie Diamandis and Vasso Zangalis met as parents of young children traveled from Melbourne city center to Oakleigh on a Monday morning to take part in Greek Story Time at the Oakleigh Library. Talking about the Greek language options available at day schools near them, they discovered a blank slate.

This is the first in a four-part series of interviews conducted by Ms. Diamandis and Ms. Zangalis, in which they explore various aspects and strengths around a successful bilingual/immersion program in the public school system of Victoria.

Their first in-depth interview is with Vic Papas, head of the language development unit at Victoria’s Department of Education and Training, who provides a list of the types of language programs available. He also walked us through processes, resources, regional language program officers, funding and more.

Currently there are:

• Standard language programs at approximately 150 minutes per week
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): some learning in the other subject above 150 minutes per week
• Bilingual: 30 to 50% of learning in the other language
• Immersion/Bination

Question: There has been new terminology on bilingual programs, immersion programs and general provision of core language in schools. How can we begin to differentiate some of this difference?
Vic Papas: From a Victorian perspective, there are four categories of language courses: instruction based on Victorian curriculum requirements;
Then there are the CLIL programs. CLIL programs move into the realm of immersion, where content is taught in the other language to some of the children through part of the curriculum.
Then there are the schools that offer bilingual education as bilingual schools or through our binational schools. Binational schools offer the home country curriculum in that language alongside the Victorian curriculum, while our bilingual schools offer the target language to 100% of pupils for 30-50% of the curriculum.
Currently we have 12 public primary schools offering 14 bilingual programs between them including Greek with four schools offering bi-national programs. Every year, about 70 public schools offer CLIL. However, the majority of public schools offer a regular language program. In addition, the Department funds our community language schools, which provide language learning outside of school hours, such as the Greek schools run by the Greek Orthodox Church and other nonprofit community organizations.
Over the years there has been a significant transition from Greek language learning to the community language school sector away from the public school sector in Victoria.

Q: How do we ensure that schools meet the minimum requirement of 150 minutes per week?
VP: Each year, the Department identifies a minority of schools that do not meet the recommended deadlines or that do not offer a language. Then we set up, with the help of our regional language project officers who deal directly with schools, a program to help those schools get to a place where they offer a language and/or increase their allocation of time.
Often, for rural, regional and remote schools, this is related to a labor shortage issue and not a lack of will on the part of the school. So we’re looking at more inventive ways to solve these labor issues using strategies like virtual language learning.
Additionally, we try to place language assistants in hard-to-staff schools and find that some of these language assistants become teachers and then connect with that school. When it is not a teacher shortage issue and perhaps reflects that leaders do not see language learning as a priority, we offer leadership courses, courses language maintenance and others to improve understanding of the importance of languages ​​and how best to implement language learning in the school.

Q: The other thing we see in the Greek community is that there are not enough graduates coming in and learning Greek as a language, so the ability of schools to find a qualified Greek teacher is a challenge.
VP: It is a real challenge, especially for our bilingual schools, because in these schools you are not looking at the average language teacher, but extremely competent teachers, someone who can deliver conceptual ideas in science and history and mathematics, for example, in another language. We would like more people to see the value of becoming language teachers, but they just don’t go through teacher training institutions.
The government has put in place attractive packages to incentivize people to take over teaching, especially if they are going to teach in regional areas, which can also incentivize language teachers.

Q: So what do we do to a) educate parents, and b) if parents want a bilingual program, do they realize that they could have that as an option?
VP: We can use the argument that we live in a globalized world, and the relationships that we make socially, professionally, economically are all interdependent and language can only be useful in this circumstance, but what we promote in addition as a Department, it is research that makes the connection between learning another language and improving literacy. There is ample evidence around the world showing that students learning one or more languages ​​do better in English literacy because of the overlap in conceptual thinking required.

Q: How do school communities get this message?
VP: Whenever we could, we tried to get the schools to engage in this thinking, with our regional language project officers, having these discussions with the schools all the time.

Q: You said there was additional funding for bilingual programs, could this be an incentive for a school to choose a bilingual program?
VP: If a school applies and is accepted into what we call the “Designated Bilingual Program,” funded and coordinated by the Department, they will receive additional funding, calculated at a per student rate, tiered based on time spent in the language. target. , between 30% and 50%.
Additional funding supports planning time, professional development, release time, language teaching support staff, and program leadership. A school offering only a regular language program will not be considered for inclusion in the designated bilingual program. It’s too big a leap.
These schools need to move from ordinary language education to a CLIL immersion model and then to a bilingual model. Notwithstanding ministerial approval, a school must display this level of readiness evidenced by a strong rationale that has the full support of the local community and staff, articulate its goals for its bilingual delivery and understanding of bilingual language pedagogy, as well as that curriculum implementation documents and strategy workforce planning, with the assurance that after three years the school will achieve 50% time in the target language, compared to a minimum of 30% expected. It’s a long process with applications by invitation only.

Q: So if the school has everyone on board and a real commitment, you are happy to support this process?
VP: A real commitment goes without saying, but a school must demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of bilingual education.

Q: If schools don’t know how to get there, you are happy to support this process.
VP: Absolutely – we are always keen to talk to schools about the kind of support or advice we can offer so they can step up their language learning.

Q: There are a lot of new schools being built, they are being told that bilingual immersion is an option.
VP: Overall, our Regional Language Project (RLP) managers would have discussions with these schools, outlining the opportunities and benefits of not just teaching languages, but offering languages ​​in an immersive context.

Q: Schools designated bilingual, what are the characteristics that distinguish them?
VP: The key characteristic is the full commitment of the school management and the local community, with a well-informed understanding of bilingual language pedagogy. Once the school gets to the point where the leadership team and the community are on the same page, you have a powerful formula for delivering a bilingual education. The other important element is the ability to find high quality mother tongue teachers.

Q: What is considered good practice?
VP: A combination of things; time on the target language and the quality of teaching provided by a qualified language teacher. I would say that any school offering less than the recommended 150 minutes of language instruction per week can compromise its delivery, I think, an immersion approach certainly reflects best practice, where language is learned in situ in and through d other program areas.