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La Serata Italiana – A Night to Remember
On the 2 June, our Year 10 Sacred Heart Italian students participated in La Serata Italiana, accompanied by Year 10 Italian students from Mazenod College. The night was filled with enthusiasm from both schools as we applied our Italian listening and conversational skills with a variety of students beyond our usual classmates.
To kick off the evening, we introduced ourselves, learned each other’s names and shared fun facts. At first, everyone was a little nervous to interact and converse, but as the night progressed, we grew more comfortable with one another. We enjoyed a range of icebreaker games, including Tombola, speed dating, trivia and Scopa.
Overall, this event was an excellent opportunity for us to build confidence in speaking Italian, improve our language proficiency and broaden our life experiences through language learning alongside our classmates. It was truly a night we will never forget—especially thanks to the delicious pizza dinner!
We proudly thank and express our gratitude to all the teachers involved in organising this memorable evening for us.
HANNA T.
Year 10 Italian Student
Issue 10: 6 August 2025
Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition
The Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition was a great experience for all. Students from Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 memorised an Italian poem over Term 2. Accompanied by Signora Arestia and Signora Buratto, we travelled to The University of Melbourne to recite our poems in front of a judge. When we got to the University, we were mesmerised by the beautiful architecture and were welcomed by friendly Dante Alighieri staff and Federica, our Italian assistant. Despite the nerves, we recited our poems gracefully and impressed the judges, receiving great praise and feedback. As we made our way back to school, we felt relieved and overjoyed that we did our best. Overall, it was a very good experience to build our confidence and improving our Italian speaking skills.
Thank you to Signora Arestia, Signoria Buratto and Federica for assisting and helping us prepare for the competition.
Congratulations to Liana M. (Year 12), Maddie K. (Year 11), and Sasha M. (Year 10), who all made it through to the finals of the competition.
On Friday 25 July, we returned to Melbourne University, where the three students recited their poems once again in front of the judges. They received further encouraging and positive feedback for their performances. After a tense wait, we were thrilled to learn that two students had progressed to the next round.
Following another round of outstanding recitations, the finalists awaited the final results. While none of our students placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, all three finished in the top 10% of over 2,000 participants—a truly impressive achievement.
We congratulate Liana, Maddie, and Sasha for their dedication, hard work, and talent. A special thank you goes to Federica, our wonderful Language Assistant, who provided invaluable support and guidance throughout the preparation process.
Palak
Year 10 Italian Student
Indonesian Speaking Competition by Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Association.
On the 14 June, several students studying Indonesian from Sacred Heart participated in the finals of the VILTA Indonesian Language Competition. We travelled into the city where we arrived at Melbourne High, the location of the competition. This event had us competing against schools across Victoria, enabling us to meet students from as far as Shepparton, Geelong and Bendigo.
The VILTA competition for Year 11 consisted of engaging in general conversation and discussing a topic of our choice which lasted a total of 11 minutes for each participant. For our topic of choice, we decided to focus on the environment where we explored major issues such as water pollution, air pollution and even land pollution. We were required to provide a short presentation on our issue with the addition of supporting photos which served as a visual element to further stress the importance of minimising harm to the environment, especially in Indonesia.
During our conversation with the examiner, we were asked to elaborate on the relationship between Australia and Indonesia as neighbouring countries, and the impacts this has on our ability to mitigate the negative impacts of pollution. We also discussed our future ambitions, struggles whilst learning Indonesian, and questions regarding the significance of our chosen topics.
The structure of the Year 11 oral competition at VILTA is very similar to the VCE Year 12 oral exam, with the VILTA competition lasting 11 minutes and the VCE exams lasting 15 minutes. This provided us with a valuable opportunity to prepare for our examinations next year.
The overall experience of this competition was very enjoyable and provided great insight into the culture and environment of Indonesia, as well as preparing us for our future oral examinations during our Indonesian VCE journey.
Congratulations to the following students:
Year 7:
2nd place: Sophie Z.
Highly commended: Krystn S.
Year 8:
1st place: Annika B.
1st place: Alivia W.
Year 11:
1st place: Kathleen D.
2nd place: Clairine L.
3rd place: Arrthee P.
KATHLEEN, ARRTHEE AND CLAIRINE
Year 11 Indonesian Students
Issue 10: 6 August 2025
