Lyceum Language Centre, Melbourne, VIC

Lyceum Language Centre was founded in 1991 by Rosalba Fogliani and Andrew Wilkinson. Both had been language teachers at high school for many years. Rosalba, who had been teaching Italian since 1979, gathered together a number of small groups of enthusiastic students, and successfully helped them pursue their goals in learning the Italian language. Classes were so successful that within a year, with the assistance of her husband Andrew, the school had grown to include courses in French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Chinese. To this day, Lyceum has maintained its specialisation in the same six languages and now employs around 50 teachers across two centres in Melbourne assisting up to 1000 students per term to learn and enjoy their chosen language. The administration team include up to 11 highly qualified, multilingual staff keen to advise and assist students. In addition to the Languages Other Than English (LOTE), in 2007 Lyceum started offering English to Overseas students. This has been a wonderful addition to the school allowing both student groups to interact and learn from each other, practising conversation and forming friendships. Rosalba in 1991, when she started up Lyceum Language Centre with 36 much loved adult students of Italian. Lyceum is the name of a garden in Athens where Aristotle taught. Aristotle's Lyceum, founded in 335BC, was an important early milestone in the development of Western education. The class arrangements were based on small group tuition and, like so many things from the golden age of Athens, it was an innovative approach to teaching and learning. We intend that our Lyceum re-captures that philosophy of small group tuition and innovation in teaching style.