European languages Day was celebrated by all the children and staff at Woolacombe. 

Reception and Key Stage One worked on several languages and intercultural ideas were woven into their day which included looking at where we are in Europe, fairy tale castles and fairy tale monsters from Germany and other places.

 

Key Stage Two children were split into mixed age groups for the morning and had a number of workshop sessions including sampling European foods in a French Bistro, researching famous European landmarks, learning to say “Hello” in a number of languages, making posters to represent different countries, Spanish Flamenco body percussion “palmas” and quizzes on crazy and not so crazy facts about Europe (did you know it’s against the law in France to name your pig Napolean?...or so Jamie in Y3 told  me!). 

 

An assembly followed in the afternoon to celebrate the learning. We sang songs that had been taught across KS1&2 in French & Spanish, we listened to Giles read out an extract from “The Sheep Pig” in Russian, leaving everyone open mouthed at the unusual sounds of such a different language. 

However the most touching moment was when children from our school who speak another language at home, came to the front and said something in that language- French, Spanish and Czech. It was a beautiful moment for these children, a time to be proud of their dual heritage and to see their friends spellbound just listening to them. 

 

The feedback from staff and children has been enormously positive. The enthusiasm, learning and enjoyment on the day across the whole school was palpable. Many, many thanks to everyone involved. A must for next year!

 

I am sure that so many children left school that day understanding that they are part of a bigger picture. That it’s not just us and our values that are of importance, but that we form part of something so much wider and richer which we can embrace, just as we do our own culture.

 

Naomi Overney  - MFL Spanish Teacher