We have always been reinforcing the idea of learning a language as a very important part of our students’ education. Language is obviously a vital tool. Not only is it a means of communicating thoughts and ideas, but it forges friendships, cultural ties, and economic relationships.

Throughout history, many have reflected on the importance of language. For instance, the scholar Benjamin Whorf has noted that language shapes thoughts and emotions, determining one’s perception of reality. John Stuart Mill said that, “Language is the light of the mind.

Nowadays we are moving towards a European framework of educational development. This is called the Bologna Process. The overarching aim of the Bologna Process is to create a European Higher Education Area that promotes mobility, attracts students and staff from Europe, as well as from other parts of the world and is internationally competitive. It aims to do this by facilitating greater comparability and compatibility between the diverse higher education systems and institutions across Europe and by enhancing their quality.

This could well mean that a three years degree course could be undertaken in three different countries, taking advantage of what the culture of every country could offer in terms of personal enrichment and intellectual development.

The ethos of our school has encouraged this approach for many years and our commitment is to motivate students to learn three (or more) languages in order to open the doors of employability and success.
My thanks go to our dedicated and passionate team of language teachers preparing our students for modern life and to those students who have made language teaching a pleasure this year.

Carlos Guerrero

Granada

This trip was the culmination of a combined effort between the Humanities and Spanish Departments to make Year 9 students aware of the Muslim heritage here in Spain. On Tuesday 30th September we set off to Granada. After an hour and a half bus ride we found ourselves in the middle of one of the most beautiful settings in Spain. Year 9 students had the privilege to visit one of the greatest examples of Muslim architecture. Actually, it is not just Muslim architecture, since the Catholic dynasties, who couldn’t destroy this amazing fortress due to its enchanting beauty, built new palaces and churches around it. We were very lucky to have two guides from the Granada Heritage Foundation who informed us of its history. They also took us to mystical hidden rooms, such as the Chamber of Secrets, where you just have to whisper for all your secrets to be heard in the adjacent corner of the room.

The Palace of Charles V, the Muslim Nazari rooms, the beautiful gardens of Generalife and countless wonders took us back in time to when the Alhambra (the Red Fortress) was still the epicentre of art and power.

Carlos Guerrero

Languages Day

On Wednesday 15th October the whole school celebrated Languages Day. Both Primary and Secondary pupils got the chance to be involved in a range of activities testing their language skills.

This year we chose to focus on stereotypes, as learning a language implies becoming familiar with its culture and fighting preconceived ideas. An assembly involving various pupils in KS3 and KS4 showed a series of very funny role plays in French, German and Spanish (they can be viewed on our blog eiclanguages.blogspot.com).

As well as all these activities and the great bake sale, the highlight of the day certainly was the visit of a Spanish school from Jaén. It was fantastic to see the Spanish pupils mixing with and being looked after by our pupils, who of course gave them the traditional EIC welcome. Overall, it was a fantastic day and we are already looking ahead and planning next year’s Languages Day!

Anne Rienzi

French Beach Party

One of the units in the GCSE French syllabus aims at practising the vocabulary and expressions needed to organise a beach party. In order to make our learning even more realistic and active, I decided to organise a real beach party and to take the learning out of the classroom! Consequently, the Year 10 class walked to the beach, which helped reinforce our unit on ‘Getting About’ and ‘Directions’.

The students did not just walk, they also had to be listening to a series of 20 words that I had previously chosen and was pointing at as we were passing them (“le pont, une voiture, un grillage, etc.). When we arrived we then had a nice picnic as each student had brought some food.

Again, we did not just eat, but we ate and spoke French! Finally, we played some games on the beach. Time went really quickly and we could have all stayed longer! It definitely was a great experience enjoyed by all!

Anne Rienzi