Modern Foreign Languages

The Department of French

Comme dit le proverbe – les voyages forment la jeunesse!

The French department has grown from strength to strength this year and students’ experience of the language has gone beyond the classroom for each year group. From visiting l’Institut Français to spending a few days en Normandie and à Paris, the French-speaking world was within reach and students have had a taste of the culture, arts and food of this neighbouring country.

Nous avons fini l’année en beauté – Then came August and exam results. Our GCSE students did extremely well this year and should be commended upon their hard work and effort. At A Level, boys and girls saw their passion for the French language being rewarded with excellent grades.

The year ahead will see our students going on trips and putting into practise the skills they have developed in the classroom – speaking the language is essential, as, challenging as it may be, le jeu en vaut la chandelle!

European Day of Languages

On Wednesday 26th September the European Day of Languages was launched in an assembly entirely designed and presented by Sixth Form students. At break and lunch time, students enjoyed taking part in activities in French, Spanish, German or Italian, ranging from an obstacle course to word games and watching films. There was also the opportunity for our boys to sample some European food available from the canteen.

Year 7 trip to Institut Français

On Thursday 14th March, boys from 7B and 7C made their way to South Kensington to spend the day at the French Institute. While this was an opportunity for all to learn about the history of the institute, we also had a chance to experience comics in French and learnt about characters such as Titeuf, Spirou, Astérix and Tintin. During lunch, we enjoyed chatting to the French students of the nearby lycée français, and, at the end, as a little treat provided by the Institut, there were trays of pains au chocolat waiting for us!.

During our afternoon at the French Institute, we all watched an animation film called L’Ile de Black Mor, which was about a 15-year-old boy named ‘The Kid’ who manages to escape from the orphanage where he is held captive. His only possession is the map of a treasure island that fell from the pages of a book about Black Mor, a notorious pirate. ‘The Kid’ lives many adventures while travelling towards the Treasure Island. Qu’est-ce qu’on s’est amusés!

Year 12 Paris Trip

A group of 14 Y12 students spent 3 days strolling around in Paris in October half term in 2012. Blessed by a gorgeous sun and mild temperatures, they visited many of the most famous monument of the capital city of France – la Tour Eiffel, le Centre George Pompidou, le Sacré Coeur, la Sainte Chapelle amongst others. As challenging as it may have been, they went to see a French film in the original version at the cinema. This trip would not have been such a success if we had not had lunch at the most popular bistro restaurant of Paris – Chartier Bouillon. There students sampled some escargots and crème de marrons! Comme de vrais parisiens!

French Film Society

On Sunday 21st October, a number of Sixth Form language students travelled to the Ciné Lumière at l’Institut Français in South Kensington to enjoy a showing of ‘Vous N’avez Encore Rien Vu’ (or ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’) providing an opportunity to practise their language skills and broaden their cultural horizons. Later in the term they returned to see ‘De Rouille et d’Os’ (‘Rust and Bones’), a dramatic and moving tale of love, family and passion.

Year 13 French students attended the British Film Institute in London on Wednesday 14th November to see ‘Occupied France on Film’. Students were shown short clips from various films, which raised such issues as the extent to which French people collaborated with the Nazis and the treatment of Jews in occupied France. After lunch they watched “Un héros très discret” which depicted a young Frenchman who pretends to have played a heroic role in the Resistance movement.

Lille Christmas Markets Trip

Early on Friday 14th December, 79 boys from Y9 and 8 members of staff gathered at Saint Olave’s to make their way to France. The programme of the day included a visit to a waffle shop and factory, where our boys learnt about all the ingredients and the techniques to prepare these Flemish delicacies. The highlight of the visit was without any doubt when the boys tasted the waffles before purchasing some for their families.

Despite the rain, we then headed to Lille, to visit the Christmas market and its central square with its big wheel. Boys thoroughly enjoyed trying out their French while sampling some of the treats on offer and making further purchases for their families. A good day was had by all and many thanks to all the teachers who accompanied us.

Year 10 Trip: The Normandy Experience

As part of their French enrichment programme, 44 year 10s embarked on a week of immersing themselves in the French language and culture in Normandy. Students rose well to the challenge of undertaking the majority of activities in French, including interviewing local residents, purchasing their lunch in competitive groups, navigating their way carefully across the notoriously treacherous fast moving sinking sands in order to reach “Le Mont St. Michel” pictured in the background. Among other highlights were the high ropes course and a visit to the very enthusiastic Monsieur Martin’s goat farm! Snails and mussels were braved and enjoyed by most. A good time was had by all and we returned to school more confident and better prepared for the year ahead!

Year 8 Boulogne Trip

Bright and early (too early for some!) on the morning of Wednesday 2nd May, the whole of year 8 arrived at school eager to embark on their trip to France. After an uneventful journey via the Channel Tunnel we arrived at the top of the town and set off on a tour of the walls and ramparts, visiting the historic heart of the town. This included a visit of the Basilica, an impressive church with a large dome which we had to try and draw.

We then carried on down the hill to the bustling market place, where we were allowed to roam and practice our French when making purchases. We bought the customary souvenirs and presents for our family, but the most popular items were sweets and an assortment of head gear. Next we walked down to the front, past the fishing port and on to the beach front, where we could sit and enjoy our lunch in the warm sunshine. After lunch we all went to Nausicaa, an impressive sea-life centre with all sorts of fish and sea creatures, ranging from the beautiful, vibrant colours of the tropical fish to the impressive sharks and their razor-sharp teeth. The visit was concluded with a sea-lion show, highlighting their agility and intelligence.

After the visit we had a chance to enjoy games and fun on the large sandy beach. Some chose to play football or cricket, whilst others just enjoyed running and fooling around, building castles or burying friends! The day concluded with some last minute shopping at Cité Europe, a large shopping centre with lots of shops and a massive hypermarket, our final chance to spend our remaining euros and buy yet more sweets, chocolate and biscuits. We arrived back at school at 8pm, tired but happy after an eventful and enjoyable trip, with lots of memories and photos of our day trip to Boulogne.

Year 13 Primary School Visit

It was a day of colours, animals and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes for Year 13 French Students on a visit to St. Paul’s Cray Primary School. After “enjoying” the stress of lesson preparation, we arrived bright and early on the morning of Friday 8th February equipped with packed lunches, various multi-coloured pieces of paper and, in some cases, pom poms! The group was split into pairs and each pair had been given a year group that they would be teaching for the day, so at 9:00 we went to meet our groups and start the activities. The pupils got involved in lots of different events, from learning French words for colours to sampling croissants in the French Café.

Many of us soon realised the challenge of teaching, as not only did we have to make the lessons informative, we had to make them interesting as well and make sure all the children were fully engaged in learning French. It was also a bit of a jump switching from being the pupil to being the teacher as there was no room for errors! It was really fantastic to see the children get involved in the activities we made, however and we all got a sense of pride when the students learnt and remembered something that we taught them. Although challenging at times, we all really enjoyed the day and wish all the pupils at St. Paul’s Cray luck with their French!

The Department of German

TheGerman department is one of the smaller departments of the school, yet it is a vibrant, lively, enthusiastic department and offers a lot. German can now be chosen in year 8, and this year there are two groups in that year. We usually have two GCSE groups and groups of varying sizes in the 6th form. One of our strength is that we run a number of trips every year; a year 9 trip to a Christmas market in Germany, either an exchange with Starnberg in Bavaria or a trip to the Rhineland for year 10 students; and a 6th form trip, alternating between a cultural trip to Berlin or an exchange with Heidelberg. And there’s lots more going on, of course…

Hanna Cooley S___Head of German

Year 10 exchange to Starnberg, Bavaria

From 6th July to 13th July 2013, 14 of our year 10 German students were in Starnberg, south of Munich in Bavaria, on our return leg of the exchange, We travelled by plane ant train and arrived in Starnberg at a reasonable time in the evening. Some of us went to a welcome party but most just settled for a meal and a decent sleep. The Sunday was spent with the host families and we did various things, from rafting to sightseeing in Munich and the Alps.

During the week we met up at school in the morning and then left for our ‘programme of the day’: two days in Munich walking and climbing a lot and seeing a huge variety of famous and not so famous sights: the Marienplatz with the Neue Rathaus and the everpopular Glockenspiel, the Viktualienmarkt, the Alte Peter, the university, the Englische Garten, the Olympia Park… all in good weather – we love Munich!

We also spent two days in the Alps; one on a superb, if a little taxing, walk through the spectacular Partnachklamm and up through the woods to the Eckbauer (where we appreciated the rest and the refreshments), then down in cable cars and off to the ‘water experience’ at the Trimini, to two hours of jumping, diving, sliding, laughing and just having a great time enjoying ourselves. The second trip to the Alps was a joint trip with the girls from Newstead Wood to the famous castle of ‘Neuschwanstein’, which did not fail to impress even the most cynical of us, as it is magnificent both inside and out.

We spent one morning at school, shadowing our partners, although we found that at the very end of the school year, there are lots of activities going on there other than lessons – probably a universal phenomenon. We enjoyed the relaxed feel without uniforms and also our boat trip on Lake Starnberg in the afternoon.

When it was time to say good-bye on Saturday, we really were quite emotional and even tearful. Invitations were plentiful, and many of us shall return! We had such a superb time!

Year 10 Rhineland Trip

From the 8th to the 12th of July 2013, a group of year 10 German students went on a trip to Boppard in the beautiful Rhineland area of Germany.

Having been travelling for eight hours, we arrived at the Hotel L’Europe on Monday just as the sun was beginning to go down. We unpacked our equipment before going for a walk around the historic town of Boppard. We were greeted with some spectacular views as we watched the sun set over the river and we admired the centuries-old architecture as we strolled around the cobbled paths of the town.

Tuesday was our first day of activities. We began proceedings with a leisurely late-morning river cruise, basking in the splendour of the warm July sunshine. When we departed the boat, the coach took us to Rüdesheimam-Rhein where we ascended the sides of the valley on a cable car. The views across the Rhine were nothing short of spectacular; if there was anything wrong with the cablecar ride it was the fact that it had to come to an end! The cable car ended at the scenic Niederwald Landscape Park where we were able to observe the Niederwalddenkmal, a memorial to the Franco-Prussian War and an impressive leviathan of a structure by all accounts. The final activity of the day was a visit to Marksburg Castle, a mediaeval fortress that sat high atop the valley. It was a defensive castle as opposed to a residential one and is the only castle in the Middle Rhine never to have been destroyed. We were taken on an informative tour of the castle and we had the good fortune to view the mediaeval torture instruments in the torture chamber.

Wednesday took us to the town of Cochem. Like many of the historic Rhineland towns, Cochem is filled with an eclectic variety of shops and eateries and it was a difficult task not to slowly drain the contents of one’s wallet! Once we had satisfied ourselves with the town centre we climbed the steep ascent to the Reichsburg Castle. The castle was in ruins until it was rebuilt in the 19th-century in the fashionable romantic-style. Although the current building does not have as much history as Marksburg, it is quite a spectacle behold and the many ornate details make it a fascinating building from an architectural viewpoint. We spent our last hours in Cochem cooling down in the outdoor swimming pools and making good use of the water slides and diving boards. We returned to the hotel for our evening meal and then the day came to a close as we drove to a leisure centre for a very competitive game of bowling.

The whole of Thursday was taken up by our visit to the Phantasialand theme park. We tried a variety of thrilling rollercoasters that tipped and twisted and turned us upside-down. In just one day we were able to go from a Colorado mine train to riding on the Black Mamba in the African rainforest!

On Friday we were sad to say goodbye to the captivating Rhineland and we reluctantly began our journey homeward. After a stop at a Belgian chocolate factory we made our way to the Euro Tunnel where we left the continent and returned home.

Although we were only there for five days, we were able to gain a great appreciation for German history and culture and put our linguistic skills to the test in the shops and cafés we visited. All in all, everyone had a thoroughly good time and if you asked one of the students whether they would like to return to the Rhineland, you would almost certainly be met with a resounding reply in the affirmative!

German Trip to Berlin

On Sunday, 17th February, we met at Gatwick airport to set off on our trip to cold, wintry, yet very hospitable Berlin; ‘we’ were six year 13 and ten year 12 students accompanied by Mr Henley and Frau Cooley.

We had a very packed programme for each of the five days we spent there, starting on Sunday night, shortly after we arrived at our hostel, with a walk along the old East Berlin ‘Unter den Linden’ to the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and a short preliminary visit to the unique Sony Centre with its unusual roof which changes colour!

Monday saw us at the Bernauer Straße, with its relic of the wall, at the ‘Topographie des Terrors’, the Nazi headquarters of the Gestapo and SS, and then at the amazing Jewish Museum designed by Libeskind; in the early evening we had a fascinating guided tour through the Bundestag by a most erudite and witty German lady with a superb command of the English language. In the evening we all gathered at the hostel to celebrate Louis’ birthday with a lovely cake!

Tuesday started off with a walk through the freshly fallen snow to the Russian memorial in the Treptower Park, dominated by the gigantic statue of a Russian soldier holding a child and having smashed a swastika with his sword, representing the liberation of Berlin from the Nazis in 1945. Then to the heart of the Stasi machinery, its former headquarters, where we had a guided tour by a German whose standard of English did not quite match that of our Bundestag lady.

The sobering experience of the Stasi HQ was eclipsed by the visit to the infamous former Stasi Prison, where many a political prisoner was kept, tortured, traumatised for life or, as many did, perished. The utter cruelty of the Stasi regime, related to us by a ‘Zeitzeuge’, a witness of the time, a former prisoner, horrified us, and her plea for young people to be politically aware and involved and to defend democracy was deeply moving.The evening was free, but most of us gathered at the hostel and spent the evening together, relaxing.

The Wednesday was a much lighter day. We greeted Marx and Engels on the way to the famous Pergamon Museum with its spectacular Pergamon altar, the Ishtar gate, the market gate of Miletus and the remnants of the Mshatta palace to name just four of the invaluable treasures of this fantastic museum which, soberingly, presented us with the most unfriendly people we met in Berlin who were guards there – arrrgh! We managed to recover from these officials as the immense beauty of the old buildings displayed impressed us deeply.

Off to the bus and a trip to the former West Berlin and the ‘hollow tooth’ a church ruin which is kept as a reminder of the horrors of war, and its new neighbour, an extraordinary church building with a simple, striking symbolism of form and colour. Then followed an utterly pleasant experience: we were invited to Tim Sticking’s 18th birthday celebration in the exclusive café on the top floor of the KaDeWe, where we sat under the glass roof and by the window, at lovingly laid tables with flowers and bows: Tim’s father had invited us all to cake and coffee and we appreciated it greatly, doing justice to the enormous pieces of exquisite gateaux.

Similarly loved was the shopping time afterwards and the meal in the Kartoffelkiste, where each students joyfully accepted a contribution of €10 from the trip fund. The waiters here were really helpful and friendly, and clearly enjoyed the pleasantness of the visitors they served. We got back to the hostel quite late yet managed to spend some time together on this last evening in Berlin.

On our last day we visited the Hedwigskirche with its beautiful organ,then the Gendarmenplatz with the Französische Dom (French Cathedral), Deutsche Dom (German Cathedral) and the Konzerthaus with the statue of the famous German playwright Schiller, where we had one of our last group photographs taken.

Due to public pressure, we went the chocolate shop once more and then took the U-Bahn to the Potsdamer Platz, where we visited the Filmmuseum with its unusual arrangements of mirrors reflecting us into endless heights and depths, which was quite disconcerting!

We returned to the Alexanderplatz for our last lunch and shopping time, before collecting our luggage from the hostel and setting off for the airport, where we arrived far too early due to the seamless connections of the underground trains and the bus.

Tired and happy, we arrived back in England, perfectly on time and without any hitches or delays. We had such a good time and many thanks are due to all parents who have allowed their children to come on the trip, the students for being so wonderfully well behaved and pleasant to each other, and Mr Henley for accompanying us and giving up his half term. The group and the trip were absolutely great!

The Department of Spanish Spanish is still a growing subject at Saint Olave’s, and is now taught in every year group. We have recently started teaching the subject in year 7 to half the year group, with the other half studying French. The present year 8 students, who followed this pattern of study last year, will be the first to undertake the new three year key stage 4 programmes – a real luxury in a foreign language, and we look forward to including many elements of South and Central American culture along with the usual GCSE material. We are also expanding our educational visit programme, with a new Year 7 visit last year and a new year 8 visit planned for this year to add to our successful year 10 residential trip to Murcia. In the sixth form, we are travelling to Andalucía for the first time this year.

Gillian

Year 7 trip to the Europa Centre

On the 13th March 2013, at 8:40am, 7H departed with Ms Gardiner and Mr McCurrach to the Europa Centre in Havering. We were all quite nervous as we would have to speak Spanish to native speakers, and we weren’t quite sure what they’d think!

We got to the centre very quickly, thanks to some nifty coach driving. We were shown into a classroom where the five ladies that were working with us introduced themselves. We then went into the centre itself, ordering what we would like from the café. Lips were licked in anticipation. The lady working with our group was called Carmen. Some of us had difficulty telling her how to spell our names in Spanish!

We then walked round the centre. We had been given booklets with various quizzes and information to fill in. We also had to ask the shopkeepers for information about a missing person that we were looking for. This fast became the most hotly contested quiz after we found out that the prize was a free cruas án (croissant) from the café.

The class’s terrible fashion sense was revealed after several of us bought assorted handbags from the shops, using the (paper) credit cards that we’d been given. Other attractions around ‘Villaguisante’ were la farmacia (pharmacy) la panaderia (bakery) and la oficina de turismo (tourism office).

All too soon, it was time to go. We thanked the women for making such an interesting experience and boarded the coach, in time to return for a Spanish lesson.

James Blackwood (7H)

Foreign Film Society

This society has recently started up again with our enthusiastic new Languages prefect team running it. A small but select audience (not all linguists!) came to see the first part of “Machuca” on Monday lunchtime in room 13. This Chilean film is in Spanish (with English subtitles) and deals with young people coming to terms with political change in their school and meeting people whose lives are very different to their own. Viewers found the film easy to understand and it helped them to realise how extreme politics can impact on the everyday lives of young people. There was humour as well as a serious message, and we are all looking forward to part 2, and future films in a variety of languages.

VI Form Spanish Work Experience

During February half term, I had the opportunity to undertake some work experience in Salamanca, Spain. It was a chance to learn more about the world of work and improve my Spanish.

Being the only person to travel from St. Olave’s at that time was daunting at first, but my nerves were quickly calmed by other students travelling on the trip.

My work placement,YMCA, was a charitable organisation that helped the vulnerable. They helped immigrants and children with difficult family backgrounds. My job there was to speak to and teach the immigrants some Spanish and make them feel at ease, as well as helping the children with their homework and giving them a break from their home life.

My colleagues were lovely, the town was beautiful (see two beautiful examples of the architcture below), my Spanish improved and everyone was extremely welcoming – all in all, I had an amazing time and I would thoroughly recommend anyone who is doing a language to do the same.

Tolu Majekodunmi (Lower VI)

Year 10 Trip to Murcia

During Activity Week 2, those from Year 10 taking Spanish made a trip to Murcia, Spain. We had a fantastic time, and the uncivilised flight times meant we had extra time to relax in the sea and on the beach during our visit, as well as having lessons and educational visits. Amongst other things, we visited the mud baths, which are part of the Salinas de San Pedro nature reserve. The environment is very fragile, and once the mud had dried on the boys’ skin (it is stinky and full of chemicals which are supposed to be good for you, as well as very salty) they had to wash it all off again in the same part of the lagoon as they got it from, before having a proper wash in the sea. The boys were able to relax and behaved well, using Spanish quite naturally to the monitors and teachers by the end of the week, and a great time in the sun was had by all. Impressively, some students were specially commended for the quality of their Spanish by the organisers. Eddie Tolmie and Jeevan Ravindran have provided a fuller report on the trip, in (naturally enough!) Spanish:

Un Viaje al sur de España

Salimos del aeropuerto de Gatwick a las seis. Llegamos a España a las nueve. Fuimos a la playa y nadamos en el Mar Menor. Es un mar muy salado.

Cada día jugamos al fútbol, y Comimos en el comedor.

Al día siguiente, por la mañana estudiamos español. Hicimos deportes acuáticos como la vela y el windsurf. ¡Era muy difícil mantenerme en pie! Además remamos – era más fácil. Por la tarde algunos de nosotros cantamos karaoke.

El miércoles por la mañana, fuimos al parque natural de San Pedro con nuestro guía Carolina. Vimos flamencos – son pájaros muy raros. Después, jugamos en la playa y enterramos a David en la arena. El mismo día, fuimos al teatro romano en Cartagena, una ciudad muy histórica, y vimos grafiti estupendo allí. Luego, fuimos a la feria y comimos churros deliciosos.

El jueves, estudiamos español de nuevo y después fuimos al mercado ¡compramos caramelos, por supuesto! Hicimos baños de lodos. Eran muy divertidos. ¡Qué guay! Por la tarde, tocamos percusión. Más tarde, escuchamos música cubana, y bailamos, por supuesto.

El último día: ¡qué triste! Fuimos a la playa por la última vez. Compartimos pizza allí. Después, visitamos el centro comercial. Luego tuvimos que volver al aeropuerto. Estábamos muy cansados. ¡Lo pasamos bomba!