6 / 20
6 MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
MFL Fayre
Callum Gandhi, L6E
On a cold snowy afternoon in March, the L6 MFL pupils
prepared an afternoon of activities to give Bancroft’s
Prep School children and those from other local
primaries a chance to immerse themselves in Modern
Foreign Languages culture. The afternoon kicked off
with a magnificent duet of
La Vie en Rose
by Emilia and
Maaya from the Fifth Form then an exhilarating salsa
starter-class from Caroline Hubbard and Isabella Lock,
which gave the entire room French and Spanish vibes.
After that each pupil was given a passport which they
would get stamped as they visited every stall, ‘travelling
around Europe’ to see what each culture brings about.
The many activities on offer were extremely diverse including flag-
making and the building of paper chains on which pupils wrote ‘hello’
in different languages. There were many food stalls which were very
popular, despite the fair being straight after lunch. These included a
bread stall that gave the kids a chance to taste various breads from all
over Europe, including the French baguette and brioche and the Italian
ciabatta. Also, there was a food tasting stall where the children would
guess where the food was from after having tried it. Unsurprisingly
the most popular stall was the biscuit and cake decorating stall and
many pupils instantly showed they had a sweet tooth. Overall, despite
the wintry conditions, everyone enjoyed the Fair and it was a success!
We learnt so much by planning this event as part of our MFL leaders’
course run by Mrs Whalley. This included team-work, presentation
skills and organisational skills. This event helped show young pupils
why languages are fun as well as important in modern-day society.
Russian Pen-Pal Project
Dr Maria Harrington, Teacher of
Russian
At the beginning of this year, the
pupils in the Russian Department
started a pen-pal project with one
of the best schools in Moscow. The
purpose of the Moscow school,
which is affiliated with Lomonosov
Moscow State University, is to bring
together the most talented children
in various academic subjects from
all over Russia. The pen-pal project
was started to give the students
of both schools an opportunity to
practise their language skills and
broaden their horizons regarding
their knowledge of each other’s
countries and cultures.
The students take turns writing their emails;
the Bancroftians write theirs in Russian
on a topic set by their teachers and the
Russian students correct the mistakes in
them and send their reply in Russian. The
following week is the English week; the
Russian students write in English and the
Bancroftians, in their turn, correct their
mistakes in English and reply in English on
the topic set by the Moscow school. This is
a fun way to find out interesting facts about
each other’s school experiences.
On special occasions students exchange real
letters and postcards. Thus, the students
from Bancroft’s sent some postcards wishing
their female pen-pals a happy International
Women’s Day. The Moscow students sent us
all, including the teachers, cards wishing us
a happy Easter.
We hope that the project will continue to be
exciting and help our students practise their
Russian and meet new friends.