To mark the UN International day of Peace on September 21st our link school in Russia, the International Arctic School, invited us to share a Peace message or poem with them and they shared the following in return.
Year 10 and 11 Russian both videoed performances of different poems on the theme of peace. If you know someone in the class and would like to see the performance, please ask them to share it. Both classes worked really hard on their pronunciation and delivery and Mrs Willett was very proud of them.
The students in Yakutsk were very pleased to receive our peace poems and understood every word so well that they were able to translate the Russian poems back into English for their English teacher.
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Russian-Header-Copy.jpg530800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2023-10-06 09:22:462023-10-06 09:25:01News from Russian
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MFL-Header-Copy.jpg543800Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2023-10-06 09:16:352023-10-06 09:18:35News from Languages
During the week of 25th September – 29th September 2023 we celebrated a Global Week of Languages and Culture. In tutor groups the pupils took part in assemblies and cultural activities.
Presdales teachers greeted their classes in a different language every day. By lesson 6 they were quite proficient!
During the week the canteen provided themed food, there was French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Everyone enjoyed tasting lunches from different countries.
On Tuesday lunchtime, students could buy ice cream, but they had to be ordered in another language or no ice cream! The students were excellent at ordering what they wanted and enjoyed posing in the photo booth.
In form time we celebrated all the different languages that are spoken at Presdales. Pupils wrote greetings in different languages on leaves to create a beautiful Community Tree.
Culinary Connections
The highlight of the week was when on Monday when over 50 pupils took part in our Culinary Connections competition. They were asked to make or bring food from home from representing another country or culture. All the participants were very enthusiastic and we had so many different types of food to try. There were dishes from all over the world including some from Bangladesh, Zambia, Lithuania, Poland and Brazil. The teachers and pupils enjoyed sampling all the dishes. It was great fun talking to the participants about how they had made the dishes and why they had chosen those particular ones to make. Everybody said how much fun it had been and the teachers were really impressed at how much time had been dedicated to preparing the food.
French
The French Department has been very busy during the week considering various aspects of French culture and the French speaking world, to help students design Bunting.
Year 7 researched food and drink and regional specialities from French speaking countries.
Year 8 pupils researched famous beautiful monuments and sites in French speaking countries.
Year 9 focused their attention on French inventions and creations from French speaking countries.
The students were very original with their designs and created some fantastic bunting on these topics, earning themselves plenty of rewards and prizes.
German
In German Year 7 researched famous places in Germany. Year 8 researched food and drink and Year 9 found out about famous German musicians and different genres of music.
Spanish
Key Stage 3 Spanish classes enjoyed cultural lessons about Spain and Spanish speaking countries.
Year 7 researched a Spanish singer or group and produced some wonderful Bunting about Shakira, Camila Cabello and many more.
Year 8 pupils researched food from Spanish speaking countries, and we had some great examples including Churros, Empanadas and Ajiaco, a soup from Colombia.
Year 9 students learned about some important and varied landmarks and tourist attractions in the Spanish-speaking world. Again some very impressive work was produced on a wide range of attractions, including the Sagrada Familia, Easter Island and Lake Titicaca.
Italian
Year 7 Italian students researched an Italian singer or group.
Year 8 Italianists decorated their bookmarks with information about and pictures of Italian brands. These included Gucci, Prada and of course, Ferrero, the company that produces Nutella, as well as Vespa, one of the stars of the recent animated film, Luca.
Year 9 Italian students researched a place in Italy to produce a themed bookmark. For some, this was a town linked to family or friends, somewhere they had been on holiday or simply an Italian spot they had heard about. Popular choices were Monterosso (the inspiration behind the town of Portorosso in Disney’s Luca).
Russian
Year 7 Russian students were asked to research food.
Year 8 Russianists researched Russian art to decorate their bunting. There were some beautiful Kandinsky patterns produced.
In Year 9 we researched Russian cities. Once again there were some lovely drawings and ideas.
https://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GWoLaC.jpg191339Presdales Schoolhttps://presdales.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/presdales-school-logo.pngPresdales School2023-10-06 09:07:132023-10-06 10:15:30Global Week of Languages and Cultures 2023
In July, six teams set off to experience the spectacular sights of Iceland. This adventure of a lifetime saw our students discover geysers and thundering waterfalls in the Golden Circle, trek past volcanic peaks in Kerlingarfjoll, get hands-on with a conservation initiative (beach clean-up) and visit the Westman Islands and the South Coast. The students were driven along Europe’s biggest ice cap, Vatnajokull. This national park is an extraordinary sight, with 30 glaciers flowing out from the ice cap. The students even had the opportunity to strap on some crampons and walk on a glacier. We are very proud of our students who worked well in their teams, stepped out of their comfort zones and learnt a wealth of invaluable new skills while making some extraordinary memories.
Here are some wonderful photos from this amazing trip …
Well done to the 32 students who participated in our language exchange with Spellian. This year we continued our partnership with Liceo Ancina in Italy and began new connections with students IES Severo Ochoa in Spain and Gymnasium Holzkirchen in Germany.
Spellian conversations are done from home, by video conference, using the Spellian online platform. Each conversation lasts around 30 minutes, with half of the time spent speaking in Italian and half in English. The programme provides an excellent opportunity for students to strengthen their listening and speaking skills and boost their confidence in speaking a foreign language in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Many of our students have formed real friendships with their partners and discovered lots of interesting details about life in Italy, Spain and Germany. Video calls with people we don’t know can be intimidating and we are very proud of the resilience shown by the students who took part.
We will be launching Spellian 2023-24 again in September to MFL students in Year 10 upwards and we strongly encourage students to take part (it even counts towards the Skills section for the Duke of Edinburgh Award!).
Mrs Evenden
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