From 2016, Prince of Peace Lutheran College students will study Indonesian from Prep to Year 10 as a continuous language experience, with the option to study Indonesian through to Year 12.
Prince of Peace’s new Indonesian language program has been developed in line with the Queensland Government’s Advancing Education plan, which identifies the study of Languages other than English (LOTE) as a clear way of raising achievement in schools and equipping students to meet the needs of the future.
Learning opportunities for Prince of Peace students will go far beyond the study of the language, expanding into cross-curricular study of culture and people. The College has existing strong partnerships with sister schools Sekolah Kristen Terang Bangsa in Semarang and Sekolah Ciputra in Surabaya, and these partnerships will be further enhanced through increased understanding of and opportunities for exchange visits with the College’s partner schools.
In addition, these partnships also enable the College to live its mission by extending support and friendship to people who live in less fortunate circumstances, with 75 per cent of the Sekola Kristen student population classified as disadvantaged.
The study of LOTE in the early schooling years for one lesson a week has been proven to improve cognitive development and students’ ability to think logically, solve problems and increase students’ ability to express themselves clearly. It also improves young people’s ability to communicate, thus improving their processing skills. Importantly, the study of languages also improves students’ appreciation of other cultures and opens up more cultural learning opportunities.