Our MFL department have finished the end of year with a flourish with a host of language and cultural activities for all our students to enjoy!

First up was a fantastic day trip to Lille on the Eurostar for our Year 10 and 12 French students earlier this month – read all about it here.

Next, our MFL Reps led an entertaining assembly about La Fête de la Musique on music trends and musicians in French, German, Spanish, Italian & Mandarin speaking countries. The highlight was a brilliant student-staff performance which you can enjoy here!

There was a fun languages and music treasure hunt around school during the week, designed by Ms Adam and involved students searching the school for QR coded clues, listening to songs from around the world and finding the letters to spell the mystery word, ‘carnaval.’  Millie F of Year 9 was declared as the winner, with the prize of some edible goodies!

Earlier this month our Year 9 Spanish, French and German linguists took part in workshops as they worked on their entries for the prestigious Stephen Spender Translation Prize. More on those here.

Our Year 10 Spanish students enjoyed developing their vocabulary and analytical skills in a Hispanic film workshop on June 16th led Dr Carmen Herrero, Principal Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, and co-founder of FILTA & director of FLAME (Research Group for Film, Languages & Media in Education).

Meanwhile Year 8 Spanish classes took part in a fun partnership activity with Nottingham Girls’ High School (GDST) competing in a Blooket Quiz in Spanish on topics including Free time, House and School, with prizes for the first three places. On 23rd June our Year 12s watched a screening of a production of ‘La casa de Bernarda Alba’, Federico García Lorca, by Cervantes Theatre London, which explores the story of a family of women in 1930s Spain, dominated and repressed by the matriarch Bernarda Alba. Then the students went out for a tapas evening afterwards.

On Thursday 16 June, the Year 12 girls studying Italian participated in a school trip to the Italian marketplace EATALY followed by a walk around the once called London’s Little Italy (Clerkenwell area). 

After a brief tour of the store, the students attended a cooking lesson and prepared some fresh spaghetti pasta with puttanesca sauce. Later in the afternoon, they had a walk around Clerkenwell area to visit the most iconic landmarks belonging to the ancient Italian community – among them the Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter’s, the memorial of Mazzini (a famous Italian intellectual), a Vespa shop.

A journey into the Italian dolce vita of London could not have ended without a delicious gelato at Terroni & Sons, the oldest Italian Delicatessen of the city. 

The pupils enjoyed the excursion and, on some occasions, had the chance to practise the language they have been studying so passionately during this academic year. 

We hope some of our students get the opportunity to practise their languages over the summer with holidays to French, German, Spanish, Italian & Mandarin speaking countries!