LANGUAGES Mandarin Activity Mrs Kinnison runs two Mandarin Activities and works with a small number of pupils on a one year beginners’ course which focuses on the Pinyin system (Mandarin pronunciation), the correct writing stroke order of Chinese characters, greetings, numbers, self introduction phrases including family. There has been scope for pupils to learn about Chinese family life, festivals and Chinese calligraphy. It has been very challenging but rewarding for those who have stuck at it. The advanced group of near native speakers, are prepared for IGCSE Mandarin by Mrs Kinnison, ensuring despite the distance from home that these continue to develop and improve their Chinese language proficiency. Both classes have celebrated the Chinese New Year together thanks to the wonderful catering team.
Academic // Kingswood In Focus // 22
MFL Speaking Competition The inaugural MFL Speaking Competition organised by the local branch of Routes into Languages was held in late March. This was a great opportunity for near native and non-native speakers to compete against other linguistically minded pupils from across the region. Pupils were required to prepare a short two-minute presentation which they delivered to an audience. There were categories in each Keystage and two Kingswood pupils, Andrei Dinu (French) and Lisa Cancellieri (Italian) won their near native categories. In addition to this Henry McBraida (German) and Esmée Charley (Spanish) finished as Runners-Up in two of three non-native categories. Henry was very well supported by our German Assistant, Sarah Brandstätter. We were delighted that Maxim Lanez (French Near Native) and Emily Ardus (German) also participated so enthusiastically. All the pupils found the experience inspiring and motivating. Esmée, Henry and Lisa all qualified for the Regional Final in Bristol held in June. Henry’s new entry, a poem, was well received and Esmée had her audience in stitches. Lisa won her category and was presented with a trophy!
Linguistics Olympiad Olympiads in other academic disciplines have existed for some time: the UK Linguistics Olympiad was the brainchild of several academics and independent school teachers. It started in 2010 and has grown in popularity. This year over 40 Kingswood pupils in Years 7 to 13 sat one of three papers. These two to two and a half hour papers are very demanding and require pupils to decode patterns in more obscure languages based on some examples. This year’s languages included Ancient Greek, Mandarin, Gaelic, Estonian and an Aboriginal tongue called Nhanda. The top 16 nationally make it to a second round where they compete for places to be on the UK team, which then participates in a global event, this year hosted in India. This year the top performers in school were: Spanish Play This year the Spanish Department welcomed the Flying Theatre group for a fantastic performance of the play VIVA ESPANA. The play was enjoyed by pupils in Years 7 to 9 and involved juggling, magic tricks and plenty of audience participation.
Intermediate Gold Henry McBraida Intermediate Silver Abigail Vaid
Advanced Bronze Angus Batchelor Francesca Padget Tommy Phillips Florence Burns
Intermediate Bronze Sam Bernstein Foundation Bronze Marcus Brend Lottie Davis Theo Isaac