Paul Hicks, Headmaster
Hi, I’m Paul Hicks. I’m the Headmaster at Camberwell Grammar School and we
have a sister school relationship with the Nanjing Foreign Language School in
Nanjing.
School sign, school building
Paul Hicks (cont’d) over montage of Chinese language classroom
We’ve been teaching Chinese at Camberwell since 1958 so I think we’re one of
the first schools in Australia, if not the first school, to introduce a Chinese
language program. And ever since that time we’ve got a long tradition of training
up Australian boys to learn Chinese and then many have gone on to work in
China and live in China. It’s part of the culture of our school.
The beauty of a sister school relationship is that it makes language learning real.
It gives us people to talk to, people to know - put the Chinese language that we’re
learning into context and makes it come alive, makes it a living thing.
Mr Stephen Lee, AOM – Mentor to Foreign Language Teachers
Well I’m really delighted that I have been able to finally get Camberwell
Grammar School and Nanjing Foreign Language School to become sister schools
because our students come over here from Australia for three weeks and then in
return our school’s students from here will go to Camberwell Grammar School
for three weeks as well. This enables them to learn each other’s language, learn
the culture and also there will be forever lasting friendships.
Me Wei Ha – Head of Chinese
The benefit for our students is to have a real experience of Chinese life, not just
from the books they’ve learnt. And also it will encourage more students to study
Chinese and also for those students who are doing Chinese, to pursue it further
at tertiary levels.
Patrick – Year 12 student
(In Chinese) Hello, my name is Patrick. This year I’m in Year 12 and I go to
Camberwell Grammar School. Last year I visited the Nanjing Foreign Language
School.
(In English) As a student it really boosted my interest in Chinese culture and my
interest in learning Chinese as a language.
Before I went to Nanjing I was terrified of speaking Chinese to anyone who was
of that nationality. But after I went to Nanjing, started speaking it for myself,
started to break down those barriers of feeling insecure and it was really great to
have that instant past through language to someone else’s life.
(In Chinese) As a result of my Chinese language studies, I’ve applied for a
scholarship to study in China.
Kevin – Year 12 student
My name is Kevin, at home I speak Indonesian and English and I’ve been
studying Chinese for five years.
When I was in China I got to use colloquial words and use the language in a real
life context. There were many words I did not know and I actually had to google
them or I had to have a dictionary everywhere I went and I’d learn all these new
words and phrases which I didn’t learn from the text book. Not only that, it also
gives you an understanding of the Chinese culture and also an understanding of
the history of China.
Joseph – Year 12 student
My name’s Joseph, my family speaks Korean at home and I’ve been learning
Chinese since Year 7.
When you’re in Year 9 or Year 10 and you’re still considering your VCE, it’s
difficult to know what you’ll be studying in Year 11 or Year 12. I think after going
on a trip like the one I took to Nanjing, it really shows you the importance of
knowing how to speak a language and how to communicate with others.
By going on this trip it really helped to solidify the idea that I wanted to learn
Chinese and I wanted to continue it all the way to the end of VCE.
Paul Hicks, Headmaster
When students from our sister school come to us they immerse themselves in
our culture, when we go there our students immerse themselves in the Chinese
culture. And the benefits for that are enormous and cover not just language
learning but life skills and networking and friendships which can last forever.
Voice-over with on-screen text
Our sister school relationship has succeeded through:
 Strong leadership support
 Effective links with our language program
 ongoing and regular communication, and
 a shared vision and common interest with our partner school.
End credit of Camberwell Grammar School logo.