Mandarin at Hillsmeade Primary School

The Mandarin program at Hillsmeade PS, in line with Victorian Curriculum, provides opportunities for students to:  

  • Establish linguistic awareness from the perspective of a character-based language. 
  • Learn about basic Chinese characters through a range of hands-on activities, including constructing characters with paper strips or play dough, prior to handwriting sessions. 
  • Develop pronunciation skills with the knowledge of Pinyin (Romanised pronunciation system in Mandarin). 
  • Play various teacher-designed board and online games that help reinforce focused vocabulary. 
  • Engage in well-structured units of work that have a strong focus on conversational language.  
  • Participate in a variety of Chinese cultural activities, including music, dancing, art, cooking and celebrations. 
  • Explore impacts of migrants on Australian history in the past and modern times through guided research projects.