Previous Language Club News

Summer Term 2016

During the second half of the Summer Term, 15 pupils from Maple Class chose to take part in our very first Italian Lunchtime Language Club. The sessions were run by the Italian mother of a Year 2 pupil, helped by two Year 3 pupils, who also have an Italian parent.

The three pupils introduced the sessions and the vocabulary related to the chosen topics and then they took on the role of "mini-teachers", as we split the children into three smaller groups to practise their learning. Many of the children were not aware of the Italian background of their fellow pupils and it was lovely to see them interact and learn from their peers, as you can see from the photographs.

Their learning included being able to greet one another, say their name and how old they are, as well as being able to ask their friends their name and age. We also did some counting up to 10.

We are hoping to extend their learning next term, when all three 'Italian' children will be together in Willow Class.

A big thank you to our Italian parents! We are very lucky as a school to have such talented parents, who are willing to give of their time and expertise to run clubs and Golden Times, in order to extend the cultural learning of our pupils.

Autumn Term 2015

Maple Class came along to Language Club this term in order to learn the days of the week, colours and numbers in Spanish. They will be taking turns to put up the date and their favourite colour on the Spanish corridor display on a daily basis and will earn a house point for their hard work. As you can see from the photos, they have also learnt the names of the fruit they eat for their break time snack, so that they can ask for it in Spanish. They have consolidated their knowledge by playing a variety of games and using paint programmes to create pictures labelled in Spanish. They have been the most enthusiastic and energetic group of children I have had at Language Club for a while and it’s been great fun teaching them.

Golden Time - October 2015

Golden Time in October was a multilingual affair. Fourteen children came along to help Mrs Jachacy and Mrs Jackson create a multilingual autumn tree for a display. They assembled the tree using pressed leaves and tissue paper. Using prior knowledge and some internet research, they wrote the colour names on the board first and then typed them up using a paint programme on the laptops. Some of them created their own trees to take home using paint to make colourful leaf prints.

October 2014

For 2014, Language Club will run in blocks of 4-5 weeks per half-term with the emphasis changing every half term.

Last half-term a staggering 24 pupils from Silver Birch signed up to come along and the ICT Suite was buzzing with enthusiasm every Tuesday lunchtime. They took part in a wide range of multilingual activities including board games, quizzes, online activities, making their own powerpoints, e-mailing Polish penfriends and skyping Poland with the help of Mrs Jachacy. At the final session they all took part in a quiz about the Spanish language and culture and were each rewarded with a Spanish pencil.

Next half-term will be Latin Club, led by Mrs McRitchie-Pratt. The aim is to encompass all aspects of Roman culture. Although the children will be taught to read and speak some Latin, we will not sit and chant declensions. Instead we will find out about the Roman civilisation – what they ate, what they believed, what school was like. In the club sessions they will have the opportunity to hear Roman myths, to learn about Roman numerals and to do Roman maths, to find out about the Latin roots behind many of our words, including those behind Harry Potter’s spells. In the run up to Christmas we will learn some carols in Latin and make Roman-style Christmas cards.

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Golden Time - October 2014

This Golden Time gave a group of ten pupils the opportunity to be archaeologists for the afternoon. They were given the broken cardboard pieces representing an amphora, a tall ancient Greek or Roman jug, which they had to assemble like a jigsaw, with one piece missing. They then drew to scale what the jug would have looked like in its complete form many years ago. As you can see from the photographs and drawings below the children were completely engaged in the task and the results were amazing.

Gallery

March 2014

During March at Language Club, two pupils created a story in French. They typed it up, added illustrations and made it into a book. It took a number of weeks to complete. Read their exciting story here!

Golden Time - 14th March 2014

In Golden Time this half term, a group of children learnt all about Easter in Poland. They now know how to say Happy Easter in Polish:

Wesołych Świąt

Wesolych Swiat means joyous holiday. They all learnt about the Polish traditions leading up to Easter and on Easter Sunday.

Everyone decorated an egg with wool and seeds, which looked really beautiful, as you can see from the photographs. The children particularly liked learning about Easter Monday, which is called 'Wet Monday' in Poland, when boys try to drench girls by throwing water over them!

More Visitors - 10th June 2013

On June 10th 2013, another group of Language Leaders visited us from Longsands Academy to teach Spanish to our Year 4 pupils. They led an hour-long lesson and covered the topic of sport. This was a great learning experience for all the children involved.

Gallery

MFL Golden Time

The MFL Golden Time in now well establised and in May 2013, a group of ten Language Leaders came from Longsands Academy in St Neots and taught a group of children all about pets in French, German and Spanish.

In the Spring Term 2013, the children have had a chance to experience Polish, French, Spanish and German in Golden Time. They have learned how to meet and greet friends in Polish, how to count to 10 and parts of the body in German and all about Mardi Gras, Easter and April Fool's Day in France.