MERRIWA Central School students said “selamat siang”, or “good day”, to a group of visitors earlier this month.
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Indonesian language lessons started in 2017 for Year 8 pupils as part of a trial for schools in rural areas.
On March 20, Indonesian teachers Ida Harsojo and Danielle Elvy from the NSW School of Languages in Sydney visited Merriwa Central for a whole day of activities to complement the online course work and lessons conducted via Adobe Connect.
The students spent the occasion trying on traditional Indonesian clothing, learning to count and practising their greetings.
They were also taught an Indonesian rhyme to help them with their counting.
The visit to the school is an important part in the process to engage students in their language studies.
And, as a result, Ms Harsojo and Ms Elvy will return to Merriwa Central for another Indonesian day in Term 3.
NSW high schools are required to teach 100 hours of a language between Years 7 and 10 – and this can be quite a challenge for schools in rural and remote areas.
The NSW Department of Education is trialling a program to allow schools without a language teacher to offer this essential part of the curriculum, while the NSW School of Languages is teaching Indonesian via distance education to schools in Tumbarumba, Portland and Merriwa.
Merriwa Central School teacher Rebecca Hopkins is extremely enthusiastic about being given this wonderful opportunity to offer something a bit different to her pupils.
“Students have had little exposure to Indonesia, so this opens up a whole new world for them,” she said.