I’m delighted to let you know that I have appointed Luisa Navanteri as our new Director of Languages.
Luisa will join us in Term 1 2023.
For such a significant appointment to our school, I wanted to share a little bit of background information about Luisa.
She had a bilingual upbringing in Melbourne and a multilingual education in English, Italian, German, Chinese and Latin. Her parents are Italian.
Luisa is Assistant Head of Foreign Languages and Year 12 Coordinator at Somerset College on the Gold Coast where she teaches German and Italian.
Luisa holds a Master of Educational Leadership from Monash University, a Bachelor of Arts (German) from the University of Queensland and a Diploma of Education from Bond University.
She was also the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Goethe Institut Language Proficiency and Teacher Training program in Germany in 2016 and in 2018 achieved academic credit in the National Excellence in School Leadership Colloquium.
Luisa was appointed to Somerset in 2013 and according to her referees, demonstrated a level of excellence that has characterised her outstanding contribution to the life of the school and to the education of its students.
Luisa has organised and led international exchanges to Germany, Italy and the US and has taken the lead in developing a vibrant calendar of intercultural events at her school.
In my conversation with the Headmaster, he could not speak highly enough of Luisa’s capacity, her personal attributes and her singular contribution to the college.
Prior to commencing at Somerset, Luisa taught at Emmanuel College and St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls in Queensland. Earlier in her career, she also taught in London.
Luisa is a passionate linguist and a curriculum expert, having worked successfully across a number of different curriculum frameworks in Victoria, Queensland, the UK and the Asia-Pacific where she has delivered language acquisition workshops and facilitated program evaluations for the International Baccalaureate Organisation in schools across the region.
She loves learning languages and loves to teach.
In accepting the Director of Languages role at IGS, Luisa said that she was very excited to “be part of a vibrant, warm and inclusive school community where language learning is placed at the heart of education.”
Luisa sees the Director of Languages role at IGS as a wonderful opportunity that “perfectly aligns with my own personal and professional values and aspirations”.
She’s looking forward to meeting our students, working with her new colleagues in the Languages Department, getting to know the IGS community and also moving to Sydney!
I’m sure you’ll join me in congratulating Luisa and supporting her as she takes on this exciting leadership role in our school.
Shauna Colnan
IGS Principal