IN THE NEWS As a leading education provider of Mandarin programs for children, Mandarin Stars has been invited to speak at events, forums and press interviews both nationally and locally. We are proud to share the latest research we have learnt in aquiring second languages, our developments as a business and news and updates on our program with both our parents and the wider community. For all media enquiries, please contact Dawna Leung on 0423 558 880. October 2008 Mandarin Stars speaks at The Future of Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools National Forum- October 2008. Click here for more details! October 2008 Daily Telegraph News Article: Wordplay breaks language barrier.jpg November 2008 Press Release: Brain Boost for Little Learners News Release Nov 08.pdf November 2008 Front page article in the North Shore Times: Ni hao to Mandarin.pdf December 2008 Mandarin Stars: Highly Commended for Outstanding Business Innovation! Click here for more details! 
June 2009 Mandarin Stars is invited by Professor Michael Wesley, Director, Griffith Asia Institute to the launch of the Giffith report on: Building an Asia-literate Australia: an Australian strategy for Asian language proficiency. Click here for more details on this report. July 2009 Mandarin Stars speaks at the The 15th National Chinese Teachers' Conference, held in Adelaide on July 11- 12, 2009. The theme of the conference is: Making Connections- learning from each other for innovative practice in Chinese language development and is being organised in Adelaide by the Chinese Language Teachers' Association of South Australia, the Chinese Language Curriculum Studies Association, the Confucius Institute at the University of Adelaide, and the Department of Education and Children's Services. August 2009 Sydney's Child Article: Classroom Connections.pdf 'Children in Australia have diverse backgrounds, and culture-specific schooling provides a way for them to stay in touch with their roots', by Donna Reis- Sydney's Child. In this article you can read about one of the main reasons why Mandarin Stars has ever come to evolve... September 2009 
On Friday 4th September, Mandarin Stars is proud to announce that they will now be officially supporting Heartkids! Heartkids is a charity that is very personal to Mandarin Stars as it has supported (and continues to support) some of our own Mandarin Stars families. To learn more about the wonderful work that Heartkids does, visit www.heartkids.org.au November 2009 Mandarin Stars to attend the RAISING CHILDREN IN MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE SEMINAR: See seminar details below: This seminar is for parents, early childhood and pre-school workers, grandparents, teachers and others interested in bilingual education. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 12:45pm – 5pm Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Cnr Swanston St and Monash Rd, University of Melbourne Speakers include: Prof. Michael Clyne, Dr. Susanne Döpke, Prof. John Hajek Raising children bilingually is a very important process. There are many positive strategies that can be employed. The sessions in this seminar discuss issues in raising children bilingually, show you how to recognise your child’s needs in the language and provide you with important tools to foster your child’s language learning and maximise the advantages available to you. February 2010 Mandarin Stars is featured in Northside Magazine Q&A Section. Click here for more details! July 2010 Mandarin Stars is interviewed by The Australian Financial Review - 'Mandarin for toddlers is the language of choice'. Click here to read our blog for more details or click here for a copy of the article. Aug 2010 Mandarin Stars is invited to prepare a paper for the inaugural MyLanguage Conference 2010 that was held at the NSW State Library and Parliament House. According Dawna Leung, Founder and Director of Mandarin Stars in her August newsletter:
'Earlier this month I had the pleasure of presenting a paper at the MyLanguage Conference 2010 which was held at the State Library and at NSW Parliament House. The conference was very thought provoking and generated a lot of ideas as to how libraries can really harness digital technology to assist culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to achieve greater social inclusion and to maintain their linguistic and cultural identity. The topic I presented on was about how Mandarin Stars have aimed to achieve this through our program and also digitally (via our Online Activity Centre). In attending the event, many ideas and inspirations were born and I am sure that the conveners will have a lot of work ahead of them! As I too looked towards ideas for the future, the conference really did make me think back to some of the motivating reasons I had 2 years ago in setting up Mandarin Stars. As many of you know- my 2 sons are my key motivation for making the Mandarin Stars program a first class program because I have always wanted them to learn Mandarin Chinese in a fun, structured and inspiring learning environment. In addition to this, I have always hoped that Mandarin Stars contributes to developing the modern day 'face of Australia' in a way that is positive for all Australians. I believe that as a 'new country', we can really show the rest of the world how to live in harmony, simply by learning the language of your neighbour. As we see migration rates increase here in Australia (especially from Chinese speaking countries), we really are developing many new features to the face of Australia.
In partnership with this, I believe that being able to speak another language, whether it is Mandarin, Thai, Italian or Greek is very powerful. One can immediately break down barriers, make new friends, develop new connections with people and eradicate prejudices. I hope that Ma ndarin Stars sets out to contribute to the community by providing a service that gives all children, whether they are Australian-Chinese, European, Anglo Australian or Indian the chance to learn Mandarin as a means of developing a sense of their own cultural heritage and understanding what ethnicity is all about, and also understanding that we live in an Australia that it is very multinational and also a beautiful melting pot of languages and culture that can be explored freely.' If you would like to see a copy of the paper that was presented, please email Dawna at dawna@mandarinstars.com.au Sept 2010 Mandarin Stars nominated as a Finalist in the North Shore Times 2010 Business Achiever Awards!
Mandarin Stars is delighted to have been nominated as a Finalist in the North Shore Times 2010 Business Achiever Awards! On behalf of Mandarin Stars, I would like to say a big XIE XIE to all the parents and our community for voting for us! It is a big pat on the back for the teachers and myself, and we look forward to moving on to the next stage of the judging process and also the Awards Night which will be held at the end of the year!
Nov 2010 Congratulations to Monica! Our Mandarin Stars teacher who won the award for Apprentice of the Year, 2010 at the North Shore Times 2010 Business Achiever Awards! The team at Mandarin Stars are really thrilled for Monica who deserves this award because of her passion and dedication in delivering the Mandarin Stars program. Monica has been teaching with Mandarin Stars for 2 years and is about to start her Master of Teaching in 2011. In the 2 years Monica has been with Mandarin Stars, her professional skills as a teacher have developed in leaps and bounds. Monica started working with Mandarin Stars in our Work Experience Program. She then trained with Mandarin Stars in our Training and Development program and became an Assistant Teacher to Colleen and Claire. Now, 2 years on, Monica is teaching her own classes with great success and we are all very proud of her well organised and diligent approach in class preparation and the delivery of our unique program. Well done Monica! Jan 2012 Mandarin Stars is featured in the ABC's 7.30 Report on Asian language education in Australia. Click here for more details. | 
