We are very fortunate to have community language programs at Canley Vale Public School. Students in Kindergarten to Year 6 attend community language classes for 2 hours each week during their classroom teacher's RFF. Students are placed into classes according to their home language - Vietnamese, Mandarin or Khmer. It is run by qualified teachers that specialise in language teaching. Students in our preschool also have access to our community language teachers each week.
Community Language class is important because:
- Children learn basic concepts through their first language, while learning English at the same time.
- The better a child knows their first language, the better are their chances of learning English as well.
- Children develop bilingualism and literacy skills in both languages.
- Children with little or no English adapt to school life easier.
- Ethnic identity is basic to self-identity and the presence of a child's language in the school can foster self-esteem.
- Maintaining and developing the background language ensures that children share a common language with their parents and other members of their community.