focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
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Modern foreign languages are an important part of learning
here at the Foundation - have a read and find out what we’ve
been up to...
from Dame Bradbury’s
French
Y4 have created books in BookCreator about themselves: their hobbies, favourite
foods, animals, birthdays and where they live. Information has come to life
with photos, images, text and sound. Meanwhile Y3 have been brushing up on
their fruits and café food, learning how to politely order from a typical menu
and creating their own sandwiches. The French trip to Rue, near Le Touquet, in
October is now full with highlights including visiting a goats cheese farm and a
visit to Amiens - the breathtaking Grottes de Naours will surely impress. It will
offer plenty of opportunity to practise our French speaking and listening skills.
Latin
A Latin workbook
Year 4 pupils leading
Year 2
Y5 have been exploring the differences between Celtic and Roman military
tactics, skills and armour, and looking at key vocabulary to identify the important
sections of a Roman soldier’s defences.
Spanish
We have enjoyed making our own films and stories with older children, writing
simple books for younger pupils, and Year 4 pupils have led Y2 in Spanish
playground games. There has been plenty of opportunity to link with other
curriculum areas - such as Art, Maths and Science to name but a few. Y5 children
are even preparing a piece from Macbeth in Spanish. We certainly aim high! We
enjoy ‘Spanish birthdays’ every Friday in assembly and even sang ‘Cumpleaños
Feliz’ to a parent visiting last week. To enhance our language teaching we are
privileged to have videos made especially for us by the author of the learning
website we use.
Coming up...
We are looking forward to our Integrated Languages Week starting on Monday
13 June and we are delighted to welcome parents to host sessions which will
include Spanish cooking, French science and an introduction to Turkish and
Indian dialect. Y3 pupils will team up with Y3 from the Junior School to enjoy a
special languages collaboration day on Tuesday of the Integrated Languages Week.
We will soon be collecting foreign coins to be donated to Addenbrooke’s hospital
(once we have used them in a creative project designed by Mrs Bootman).
Making movies!
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
from Pre-prep
A willingness to have a go at speaking another language is the aim of our language teaching in the Pre-prep. We
plan a variety of activities that encourage children to enjoy communicating to each other in a new way. This
might start with choosing what language they want to use in the register or being given instructions in Spanish
in a Gymnastics lesson. Exposure to different languages takes place throughout the school day. From Reception
the children have regular French lessons learning songs by heart, discovering how to say phrases and hold a
conversation. Every class has a Spanish experience through the week, saying the lunch menu in Spanish, singing a
counting song or taking part in the Spanish Art Club; daily repeated experiences are communicated in Spanish to
give the children repeated practice.
We are very fortunate in the Pre-prep to have many teachers and children that speak another language and they
regularly teach the rest of the school greetings and counting to five during assembly when we have a language of
the month. Some of our favourite languages this year have been Mandarin and Italian.
If you are visiting the Pre-prep be prepared to be greeted in another language and you will be expected to have a go
at responding!
Class inspired by Polish
artist, Matejko
Spanish Art Club
Making Gaudi’s famous
gecko from Parc Guell
from Junior School
This year no fewer than seven modern languages have been heard in Junior School classrooms. French, our core
language, is taught to pupils from Y1 to Y6 and into the Senior School. Tours of the school with prospective
parents and other visitors nearly always find a French lesson en route and it is great to see a variety of activities
designed to develop the four keys skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Examples of these can be found
below.
A highlight of this year was Mardi Gras, which we marked with a special French breakfast last term. This was really
fun and successful in terms of encouraging the children to practise their oral skills. Later this term Y5 & Y6 will
join Y7 students for a performance of a French interactive play by Onatti Productions, which promises to be very
entertaining.
Spanish, our second language, is currently taught throughout Y6 and for half a term in Y4 & Y5. It is a relatively
easy language to learn and very popular with the children; we are planning to increase the delivery of it next year
and will have news of this to share with parents shortly. Meanwhile, we are excited that Y3 pupils in the Junior
School and at Dame Bradbury’s are having a collaborative Spanish event in June.
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
We now have a well-established Mandarin Club, attended by members of
Y3 & Y4, and a Miniglot Club, which is very popular with Y6 students.
The languages on offer in Miniglot this year have been German, Russian,
Mandarin, Italian and Japanese. We were impressed by the contribution
made by Mandarin Miniglot attendees to our Chinese New Year assembly
and we are looking forward to seeing our Japanese Miniglot group
welcoming four teachers, from our exchange school in Tokyo, next Tuesday.
Finally, we mark European Day of Languages on 26 September every year
with a specific focus on one language. It was wonderful to have parental
support for our Italian assembly in 2014 and our German assembly in
2015. We would welcome offers of support for future language assemblies
should you wish to offer it!
As part of the Foundation focus on STEAM, and in particular our focus
on structures, pupils in Y3 & Y4 have been learning about places of
interest in Paris. They did this by putting together puzzles identifying the
various architectural landmarks; they then went on to describe details
of the pictures with their peers. Working in pairs, they researched these
famous landmarks, picking out relevant and interesting facts to create an
informative PicCollage poster.
Year 5 pupils have recently completed their own ambitious project, which
allowed them to demonstrate their creative writing skills using the French
language. This also involved applying their understanding of grammar and
sentence construction, acquired from their English classes, to write poems
about the famous painting by Edgar Degas, ‘Scène de plage’. The students
showed impressive determination and resilience in accomplishing this
challenging task and they produced some truly outstanding poems.
A recent Year 6 French task was to learn about places in town and provide
relevant directions and descriptions; here too there were impressive results.
In order to develop their speaking skills, the students created short video
clips using iMovie. The weekly French vocabulary tests which students
undertake are intended to enhance their pronunciation. Mme Fullman is
happy to report that many of the pupils are beginning to sound like they
come from France!
It’s also pleasing to note that Year 6 pupils really enjoy their language lessons in the Innovation Room at the Senior
School. They participate in vocabulary games, are developing their ability to work collaboratively, take risks in
learning and write spontaneously. Describing what the teachers were wearing one day, as part of a topic on clothes,
looks and opinions, proved to a particularly popular activity!
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
from Senior School
French
On Thursday 10 March, students from Y9 and Y10 French groups watched the play, “Les Garçons”, performed
in French by the Onatti Productions. This educational and entertaining comedy was a marvellous opportunity to
make the French curriculum come alive. We look forward to seeing Onatti Productions back in our school on 7
June to perform to Y5, Y6 and Y7: “Parlez-vous français?”. Vive le théâtre en français! Here are some quotes below
in French, and in English, from students sharing their experience:
‘Les Garçons’, est une pièce de théâtre
The two actors did a great job of making
us laugh, surprising us and expanding our
French vocabulary without us realising
it. The romantic plot was very funny
and easy to relate to and the audience
participation made it very enjoyable as
everyone was involved. This was a great
way of improving our knowledge of
modern everyday French as the setting
of the storyline was always entertaining.
Overall: c’était super! Nanou, Y10
en français. C’était très drôle. C’est
l’histoire de la ‘baby­sitter’ Natalie,
et le bébé, Bruno. Elle garde un
enfant, quand, son ex­copain, Tristan
arrive. Tristan a donné un bisou
à Françoise, une fille que Natalie
déteste. Alors, Natalie est furieuse.
Ça m’a rire quand le père de Bruno
est arrivé sur scène portant le costume
d’une vache. Eloise, Y10
In the Easter holidays twenty Y9 students accompanied by Mme Parente and Miss Covez, spent a week with
their French exchange families. This is the first leg of the exchange with the College de la Providence in MesnilEsnard, a satellite suburban village near Rouen. On our arrival on Saturday 19 March, we were given a very warm
welcome. You can read an account of the trip from the students on our website, hope your French is up to scratch!
French exchange trip
Mandarin - what we’re looking forward to...
Y9 students will attend a 2 week summer camp in China in July organised by the University College of London
IOE Confucius Institute and Hanban, the Chinese Language International Council. The annual programme has
gained a widely-recognised reputation for offering invaluable opportunities for students to learn Chinese language
and culture through an intensive course. During their stay, students will spend 3 days visiting interesting places in
Beijing, such as the Forbidden City and Great Wall. They will spend time in Jinan, Shandong Province, attending
Chinese classes to develop their language skills alongside local Chinese students, and visiting local areas of cultural
and historical interest. Over the last couple of years there has been a big push by the government to introduce
Mandarin Chinese into the classroom. Increasing the amount of Mandarin speakers in the UK has been identified
as crucial to the UK’s future growth and prosperity.
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
To conclude their unit on Food and Drink, on 6 May the Y9’s will be practisingFollow
their us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
language skills and perfecting their chopstick dexterity at the Yim Wah restaurant
where they will eat dumplings and drink Chinese tea. The Mandarin speaking waiting
staff will quiz them in Chinese and help them practise their language.
Mandarin is increasingly useful in Cambridge as many visitors from China are attracted
here by the words of a famous Chinese poet, Xu Zhimo, whose 1928 poem, Farewell to
Cambridge is taught to all Chinese schoolchildren as an example of the modern poetry
movement in the early 20th century. The first and last lines are carved into a granite
stone on the edge of Scholar’s Piece, near King’s College.
Natalia
&
her exch
ange
German
Last week, on the 8-15 April, Y10 German students flew to Munich to meet up
with their German counterparts, dive into the German culture, and practice their
language skills. Natalia wrote a superb account of the trip:
“I only realised how nervous I was when my schoolmates and I had landed in Germany, and
we were struck by the fact that we would have to walk into the homes of families we had never
met before. Nobody knew what to expect. We said our goodbyes, knowing that we would see each
other in two days, the timeframe may be small but, when you have two days to spend with someone
(and their family) that you don’t know, one’s perspective of time changes. However, I am happy to tell
you my family were never short of conversation, they made me feel at home in no time. They took
such interest in English culture. For example, they were shocked that I drank black tea with milk
and how little a pint was in comparison to a “Maß” of beer (which is 1 litre)! I also recall having to
explain Digestives to my family.”
You can read the rest of her account here.
Japanese
In Salzburg
Last September an enthusiastic group of students and staff began the British Airways Language Flag Awards
(BALFA) course. Beginning as novices, they have now developed a good level of fluency –
with all participants passing the BALFA exam with ‘flying colours’ in February. A BALFA is a
vocational oral language test, freely available to all schools in the UK. The test was introduced
by British Airways to address a desperate shortage of language speakers in the UK. BALFA
courses aim to encourage more young people to learn languages and focus on
the application of ‘real-world’ language skills in the workplace. We applaud the
following staff and students for their constant hardwork throughout the course:
Aisling Brown and Stephanie Covez (staff), Coco Anderson, Poppy Roberts, Aoife
Husband, Tanisha Dhariwal, Cici Tilston, Nika Kapushesky, Josephine Chen, Ewa
Bednarek, Iona Spensley and Isabella Sansome.
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
Spanish
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
Last term 23 students from Y10 and L6, accompanied by Mr.
Taylor, Sra. Reilly, and Sra. Delgado, visited the beautiful and green
region of Cantabria for five days. The group stayed at a hotel in
the touristic and well preserved town of Santillana del Mar. The
owner of the hotel, Paco, looked after them as if they were part of
the family and gave the opportunity to sample some of the typical
cuisine, including chocolate and churros, chorizo and the regional
cake, sobaos pasiegos. There was a variety of activities too, such as flamenco and salsa dancing, Spanish lessons in
Santander and a fantastic boat ride to a nearby island where they had a lovely beach to themselves! All who went
thoroughly enjoyed the trip and practised lots of Spanish practice too.
Italian
PREMIO BONACCI EDITORE
The whole of Y10 Italian class has taken part in an international competition promoted by the publishing house,
Bonacci-Loescher, which specialises in resources for Italian as a foreign language. This project is part of the
XV editon of “Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo” (Italian in the World Week) whose theme this year
was “Italiano della musica, musica dell’Italiano” (Italian, Language of music, music of the Italian Language).
Everybody in the class has taken a role either in filming, editing or acting in the videoclip of the Italian song. This
has been a fun activity to do in class but also great opportunity to discuss and understand cultural aspects and
some stereotypes of the language they are studying. Take a look at the website with all the videos from around the
world - our video is awaiting some more votes! (The website is in Italian, but scroll down to the UK link to watch
the Y10 entry.)
ITALIAN TRIPS
Last October half term, a students from both Senior School and 6th Form
College took part in a joint trip with the Classics department to Rome and
the bay of Naples. If the views of Ancient Rome and walking on one of the
biggest, active volcanoes in Europe was not enough, this year the Italian
department has joined forces with the Art department to take next October
half term another 20 students of Italian and 20 of Art to the streets of the
most famous Renaissance Italian cities: Florence and Siena! Visiting important museums
like the Uffizi Gallery and cathedrals, like the Duomo di Siena, and walking on those
same paved streets where great men like Lorenzo de’ Medici lived and worked, might be
as extraordinary as the previous trip.
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
from 6th Form
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
Russian
On 15 April a very mixed group departed for London: it included L6 Russian and
art students, Y10 Russianists and some Y9 and Y10 art scholars. The aim of the
trip was to explore Russian artistic heritage at two excitingly different venues.
The first venue was Dorich House Museum in Kingston - the 1930s studio
home of a Jewish emigré from the Russian Empire, Dora Gordine, who went on
to become a highly successful sculptor and designed her own house to suit her
tastes. It combines Art Deco interiors with Gordine’s own work and her husband’s
collection of Russian art, and made for a wonderfully atmospheric visit, with
sculptural portraits, round doors, ancient icons and a great view from a very wet
roof terrace. We were given a tour by museum staff and then there was time for
artists to sketch and Russianists to jot down ideas for their language task.
In Dorich House Museum
The second venue was more mainstream but equally unique: “Russia and the
Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky”, an exhibition of portraits from the
Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, on at the National Portrait Gallery until 26 June.
It features prominent figures in the sphere of art, such as writers, composers and
art patrons, painted by great artists of the time, and therefore gives a sweeping
panorama of the late 19th-century Russian art scene. There are portraits of
Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Mussorgsky as well as lesser-known but equally
significant people, like the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery himself. Again, there
was time for sketching and making notes, and a general feeling of something new
being discovered - which, of course, was the whole point of the day.
Spanish
Paintings in the National Gallery
On Tuesday, students attended an entertaining and informative talk on Latin American women given by Erica
Segre, Senior Fellow of Trinity College. Principally the focus of the talk looked at works by Mexican poet Rosario
Castellanos and how language shapes you, how you can shape it, and how there are few role models for Mexican
women to follow. These ideas were then linked in with paintings by Frida Kahlo and her perception of attitudes
towards women. Students learnt a great deal from this talk, not least how some of the ideas tied in with those of
Lorca, a dramatist that both A level and IB students study, and they also engaged in thinking that went beyond
what is normally expected at 6th form when studying foreign literature.
focus on
languages
Friday 29 April 2016
Coming up across the Foundation...
Follow us on Twitter: @SPFlanguages
From Palermo to Brixton, from
English Lawyer to Sicilian writer: a
woman’s personal experience
On Friday 6 May, 4.30pm, at the Stephen Perse 6th
Form College, we will be delighted to have with us the
celebrated Italian author Simonetta Agnello Hornby
who will talk about her experience in Italy and UK.
Her intertwined careers, her writing, her inspirations
and her aspirations, as well as the relationship with
Italy and Sicily in particular, drawing some parallels
between Sicily and England. Follow this link for more
information and to register via Eventbrite.
LUNCHTIME CONCERT AT MICHAELHOUSE FRIDAY 6 MAY 2016, 12.30 pm Chopin: Nocturne in B flat minor Beethoven: Sonata in C minor ​Pathétique Grave ­ Allegro di molto e con brio Adagio cantabile Rondo: Allegro Debussy: Voiles Valeriya Kopanitsa​ ​piano ADMISSION FREE (retiring collection) Next Concert – Friday 10 June (Music for Piano) PFA Masquerade Ball
The PFA are hosting an exclusive ball at Girton
College on the Saturday 2 July to fundraise for a new
outdoor stage at the Senior School. Limited tickets are
still available, more information will be released via
SchoolPost on Tuesday so please keep an eye out!
Junior School & Pre-prep
Parents Meeting
Last term we had a fascinating meeting with a small
group of parents about bringing up bilingual and
multilingual children. For the second meeting we are
delighted to have two guest speakers from Cambridge
Bilingualism Network. If you have not received an
invitation to this meeting on Wednesday 11 May
and are interested in attending, then do contact
[email protected] for further details.
Year 7 Coffee Mornings
Mark your calendars, drop in and join other parents
and guardians of Year 7 at Waitrose Cafe, Trumpington
Road, for coffee/tea and chat on Wednesday 11
May, 9am. After half term, the meeting place will be
Fitzbillies, on Friday 24 June, 9am. Contact Jane
Biddle with any queries, [email protected].
Careers Fair, Speed Dating
and Workshops
Wednesday 11 May, 6th Form College, 7 - 9.00pm,
for Year 9 to Upper 6th.
Follow this link for more information.
University Question Time
Open to all in Year 9 to U6
Wednesday 15 June, 7.30pm - 8.45pm
Senior School Hall
Paul Teulon, Director of Admissions at King’s College,
London; Helen Waters-Marsh, Head of Schools’ Liaison
at Nottingham University; Dr Sam Lucy, Director of
Admissions for Cambridge Colleges; Brendan Tighe,
International Affairs Manager at SciencesPo, France.
We will be inviting questions shortly and taking
bookings!