The Education Department of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW is organising the annual student Public Speaking Event and encourages teachers and learners of Greek to support the initiative.

When: Sunday 8 September 2019 at 3:30pm
Where: Greek Community Club, 206-210 Lakemba St, Lakemba

For more information, please contact the Education Department of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW on 9740 6022 or education@goc.com.au 

Examination results for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek 2019 are now available for access. Individual candidates can access their results through the Centre for the Greek Language website by providing:
a. the code number of the examination centre
b. the candidate’s registration code
c. the candidate’s surname.

Candidates who have not passed the exams may have their exam re-scored by submitting a written request to the Centre for the Greek Language (CGL). Re-scoring requests must be submitted by email at ellinomatheia@komvos.edu.gr by 30 August 2019. After submission of the request, the candidate will have to deposit 60€ to the bank account that will be given by CGL. For more information, please visit the CGL website.

The attached charts here depict the overall results for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek 2019 and show a high success result rate of 85%. The A1, B2 and C2 levels, in particular, had a commendable 100% success rate.

Statistics source: CAG, Sydney Examination Centre.

For more information, please contact the CAG Sydney Examination Centre at 
​hellenicedu.sydney@gmail.com

The acronym NAIDOC stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee and NAIDOC week (7-14 July) is devoted to events celebrating the Indigenous communities’ histories, cultures and achievements.  Events taking place across Australia include talks, music performances, art exhibitions and workshops for various audiences including children.
​
Apart from engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages, the Greek language teacher can potentially use this significant week in the Australian calendar as a starting point for classroom discussions about all languages and cultures, the importance of valuing and developing them and the implications the large variety of languages and cultures has for the contemporary multilingual Australian society.
 
For NAIDOC week events taking place across Australia, students and teachers can visit the link here.

2019 NAIDOC Week poster source: 
​https://www.naidoc.org.au

Greek singer and musician, Dimitiris Basis, was visiting Sydney this year for a series of musical performances during the 2019 Greek Festival of Sydney.  Basis’ discography includes musical pieces that belong to the Greek music genre known as “Laïkó Tragoudi”, folk or urban folk music, a genre that followed Rebetiko music and which has taken many forms over the years.

Basis’ finale performance for the 2019 Greek Festival of Sydney at City Recital Hall in late May, “Mikis Theodorakis – Romiosini and Beyond”, was a tribute to the poetry of internationally acknowledged Greek poet, Yiannis Ritsos, as well as to the music of Mikis Theodorakis, one of Greece’s most important songwriters and composers. Romiosini in Yiannis Ritsos’ poetry refers to an idea of heroic Greekness as this was manifested in the Greek people’s struggles during the Greek War of Independence – 1821 and much later during the Second World War.

Following his final performance, the singer visited the Greek Orthodox Community Saturday School at Clemton Park Public School, where students asked questions about his interest in music, his career and his experience singing in front of a Sydney audience. Basis kindly answered all of students’ questions sharing his journey as a migrant in Germany early in his life. At the end of Basis’ visit to the school, the students were asked to sing along some of his songs!

The photos that follow capture the festive atmosphere at the school in late May!
 
Photos source: O Kosmos – Greek Australian newspaper  (https://kosmosnewspaper.com.au/)