LOTE – Mandarin

At Beverley Hills Primary School (BHPS) students from Foundation to Year 6 attend a 50-minute Mandarin lesson per week. The Mandarin program engages students in an intercultural learning experience. Our aim is to foster students’ language learning through observation, reflection and analysis of differences among English, Mandarin and students’ own background language.
Our program focuses on new topics each term. We explore themes from daily activities to cultural events. We incorporate some of the important festivals in the topics. Each year we celebrate Chinese New Year as a whole-school event. Students are encouraged to engage in the culture and apply Mandarin speaking in their routines. IPads are used in the classroom to facilitate guided, independent learning.