During the week of 22nd to 26th September, we celebrated the diversity of languages and cultures within our school community with a variety of activities throughout the week. In tutor groups, we looked at how many loan words from other languages we already use on a day to day basis. We also embraced the idea that learning other people’s languages opens hearts and minds.

Presdales teachers greeted their classes in a different language every day. By lesson 6 they were quite proficient!

On Monday we hosted an event for students during Monday lunchtime called ‘Culinary Connections’. Students from Years 7 to 9 were invited to bring in a home-prepared dish/snack originating from a different country. Over 60 families baked and prepared a variety of dishes. There was a real buzz of activity. Thank you very much to those families who contributed to this very popular event. The aims of the event were to showcase and share food from other countries and cultures and to allow students to try something that they might not usually eat!

In class, in Year 7, we celebrated with researching flags, languages and ‘hello’s’ from all over the world. and creating bunting with the information gathered. Students in Years 8 and 9 in both of their languages were given a theme or topic to focus on and have produced some excellent bookmark creations, which you can view here.

German

In German Year 8 information about German companies and Year 9 researched different musicians and music genres which are popular in Germany.

Spanish

This year for Global Week of Languages and Culture, the Spanish Department celebrated in KS3 lessons by students researching various aspects of hispanophone (Spanish-speaking) culture and decorating bookmarks with their research. Year 8 enjoyed researching traditional food from Spanish-speaking countries such as paella valenciana, crema catalana, patatas bravas, churros, and croquetas. Year 9 considered the different amazing places that Spanish could take them, and found out about tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu, La Sagrada Familia, La Isla de Pascua, and La Alhambra. Year 7 celebrated the diversity of languages and countries around the world, researching different countries and making decorations with each country’s flag, the languages spoken there, and how to say hello in those languages.

Italian

Russian