An International Week to remember!
Many months ago, teachers from Princecroft Primary School and Warminster School put their heads together and came up with the idea of an International Week which would allow the primary school pupils to learn about the different countries, languages and cultures of the world whilst also giving Warminster School pupils the opportunity to pass on their knowledge and take responsibility for the learning of others. None of us could ever have imagined how enriching the week would turn out to be – for both pupils and staff!
The week kicked off with an informative and entertaining assembly at Princecroft. A number of Warminster Sixth Formers gave a fantastic insight into many countries of the world. Princecroft pupils looked up in awe as our pupils gave clues, in their own language (French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Turkish…), about their homelands. The pupils were very eager to guess where they came from! It was a wonderful start to the week and all the pupils were engaged and keen to know more.
Throughout the week, Italian, Chinese and Russian Pupils from Warminster School visited Princecroft to deliver engaging language lessons that they had prepared. Princecroft pupils learnt a variety of useful vocabulary and phrases including colours, animals, numbers and food in each language. “That was fantastic! Can we stay and be teachers here?!” was a comment from Sophia Cheung (Lower Sixth). Simon Wojtowicz, another Lower Sixth pupil who taught Italian at Princecroft, remarked: “Wow that was exhausting! But I really enjoyed it and I can’t believe how much they remembered at the end!”
Warminster language teachers took their Spanish pupils who had prepared wonderful lessons and resources to teach Spanish to those whose allocated country was Mexico. Following her Spanish food tasting activity, Sophie Watson (Year 9) commented: “That was so much fun!” It is safe to say that everyone gained a great deal from the lessons. Princecroft pupils thoroughly enjoyed being taught a different language by our pupils and Warminster pupils loved the challenge of delivering inspiring lessons!
Thursday was “French Day” and staff and pupils from Warminster School spent the morning at Princecroft teaching the pupils all about the French language and culture. There was a real buzz about the place as pupils moved from group to group engaging in lessons on food, animals, descriptions, numbers and greetings. By the end of the morning nobody could get the “il fait chaud” weather song out of their head! But the fun was not to end there. Princecroft pupils and staff were in for one more treat as they set off on their journey to the Thomas Arnold Hall at Warminster School to watch the brilliant French play that Maisie Fogg, Emma Aspray, Ellie Clarke and Rebecca Pearson from Year 10 had written and were about to perform. And what a treat it was! Le Croissant Magique captivated the audience as the story of the magic croissant unfolded with lots of audience participation, humour and a sneaky bit of learning. The croissants and chocolat chaud afterwards finished off the day perfectly.
It was an absolute pleasure seeing all the work come together and the delight the children had in showing all they had learned to their families. The staff at Princecroft had worked incredibly hard to help the children piece it all together. It has been a real honour working with all the staff and pupils at Princecroft this week. I have been genuinely overwhelmed by how much everyone has engaged with the project and been so welcoming. A big thank you to the pupils and MFL team at Warminster School and especially to the staff and pupils at Princecroft Primary School for inviting us and letting us be a part of such a special week. We have loved every minute and look forward to our next joint language venture!
Nicola Rogers
Head of Modern Foreign Languages