Spanish Masterclass

Students welcomed Gabriela Alonso from the Spanish Embassy Education Office to celebrate European Day of Languages.

This was part of European Languages Week in which we raise awareness of languages and cultures around Europe.

Year 7 students were shown the traditional dance of flamenco and performed as a group.

All of the students got involved with the dancee and learnt the steps quickly.

Gabriela also spoke with the Year 7 students about the rich culture and history of Spain. She described its traditions and festivals and told the students about the foods and dances associated with Spanish culture.

The students engaged with Mrs Alonso and she danced a flamenco for them on the stage. Some brave students were confident in the lesson she had given them earlier in the day and joined her on stage to dance.

A Year 7 student said: "I was surprised how much more there is to learn with language lessons than just how to speak another language. We are learning about the country and its traditions as well as its culture and history."

Another Year 7 added: "I really enjoyed the workshop. We learnt all of the basic steps and put it to music and I love it. It was so fun and I hope we do more like this in the future."

Modern Foreign Languages Teacher, Miss Jakins said: "We were very lucky that the Spanish Embassy through their Consejería de Educaicón, were able to send Mrs Alonso to deliver workshops teaching us dances from Andalusian culture.

We also created masks, called 'calacas'. These were used to motivate students to ask questions about Mexican culture, where Spanish is a first language."