Isabella Cannavo, Michelle MacCoWage, Caelyn Evans and Jessica Penny have taken part in an exchange programme with students of the liceo Giotto Ulivi of Borgo San Lorenzo near Florence, Italy. Over the 3 weeks at school the Australian students have followed weekly 4 -hour IFL classes (Italian as a foreign language) with qualified school staff. The rest of the time at school has been devoted to follow various classes in different subjects with their Italian host sisters and especially to prepare classroom EFL (English as a foreign language) activities which were then carried out by the aforementioned Australian students with different groups of Italian students (they have worked with more than 10 different groups of students). All the girls have shown great sense of responsibility in complying with the school requirements showing creativity and a positive attitude to teamwork always producing interesting activities which have helped the Italian students to improve their spoken English skills. Their behaviour inside the host families has been very correct and all the girls have shown positive attitudes towards all family members well integrating in the family routine. As for specific learning credits, all the girls have improved, in various degrees, their Italian language skills particularly those connected with speaking and listening abilities. During the 2-week Christmas holiday period all the Australian girls have had a chance to see places of great cultural and tourist interest including the Italian Alps and Apennines, Milan, Rome, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra and Pisa. Isabella Cannavo has also had a rare chance to visit Switzerland with highlights of Lucern and of the capital city Bern. Florence has been the target of several visits (including a thorough guided tour of Palazzo Vecchio), given its proximity to the Mugello area where all the 4 girls were lodged. The project ran from December 8th 2008 until January 11th 2009.
Prof. Paolo Badiali
responsible for international and European projects