Español en la Comunidad

On Friday, 24th of February, the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Department at Palmers Green High School (PGHS) went to visit St Monica’s School, one of our local partnership primary schools, for an afternoon of language discovery, fun and creativity. Y11 pupils spent time with Year 5, promoting languages as a whole and Spanish in particular.

The objective of the new partnership initiative was to give a taster day to Year 5 pupils in local maintained primary schools where the language is not taught. The aim of the session was to understand what the children know about other countries and languages, to nurture their curiosity, cultural sensitivity, empathy and tolerance.

The taster day involved class participation (answer and questions), quiz, dancing, singing, oral practice and miming!

Our Argentinian Spanish Teacher introduced the subject by asking True of False questions about Spanish facts. The pupils really enjoyed standing up for the True facts and sitting down for the False ones. We talked about famous Spanish people, places & monuments and obviously food & drink! The Y5 class realised that they already knew Spanish words like Paella, Churros, Pizza and guessed Hamburguesa and Limonada amongst the list provided.

The second part of the session was taken entirely by our Y11 Linguists who ran four different oral workshops. It was a real pleasure to see PGHS pupils delivering the language in such good spirits and creative ways. Lots of fun was had by all and the Y5 pupils learnt numbers 1-10, how to introduce themselves, and how to recognise and ask for specific food too. Our girls were perfect ambassadors for PGHS and as teachers we were very proud to see their expertise in the language and their determination to try something challenging. They all agreed that teaching seems easier than it is!

Language teaching and learning is an important part of our curriculum and we believe that sharing experiences broaden people’s view of the world around us.

Aims

The aim of the project is to provide partner school pupils with an opportunity to learn about a language and culture they are not taught in their own school whilst giving PGHS pupils an excellent first ‘work experience’. The project aims to promote the learning of Spanish and leadership skills in our own pupils. The partnership offers Year 5 pupils a taster lesson in Spanish and an insight into the Spanish-speaking world which will be particularly useful when moving onto their secondary schools. In turn, our Year 11 pupils have an opportunity to reach out to the wider community and develop their presentation and public-speaking skills.  The event also provides an additional opportunity for Year 11 pupils to practise using the language they will be assessed in for their IGCSE. Pupils from both schools clearly benefited and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Background

Aim to share the experience of the Head of MFL and Year 11 pupils with primary school pupils who are not taught the language at their own school. Interested in broadening pupils’ views of the importance of understanding another language and another culture and celebrating diversity. 

Resources

Use of St Monica’s classroom and Interactive Whiteboard.

Year 11 pupil’s briefing to prepare them to teach.

Year 11 preparation of material (flashcards) and rehearsal in School.

Support from hosting Headmistress, teachers and other staff.  No financial contribution from visiting school.

Impact

Excellent way to share knowledge, to help Year 11 with work experience, see another school and pupils. 

We are aiming at repeating the event with another Year 5 class at the same school very soon as the feedback from both parties was very positive.

Pupil Involvement

Involvement of pupils from your School = 8

Involvement of your partner's pupils = 30

Ages and gender of pupils involved, if relevant = 9-10 years old at a mixed school. 

Frequency

Hopefully, and annual event.