We held our first ever Languages Day at school today and it was great! The children were split into their 4 team point groups and then went round 4 'countries' learning a little bit of language and some of the culture.
I don't normally work all day on Thursday, but decided to go in and help out. Needless to say, I was in France. The day started with all the children going through passport control to board the aeroplane in the hall - as senior security officer I had to query a few passports and check some dodgy looking photos! The children really enjoyed this - especially the emergency proceedures on the plane ('the exits are here, here and here - I always wanted to be a trolley dolly!') and take off and landing. Then they were off to their first country - as well as France there was Germany, Spain and Estonia (our music teacher is Estonian). In France we had a cafe, a bibliotheque, some games plus food to try. Brioche went down well, brie less so!
All the children seemed to really enjoy the day and their little tasters of other countries. Whilst languages at Primary level may not be seen as a priority, I have seen how keen the children are to learn new words and phrases and particularly how the children who may struggle in other lessons seem to blossom with languages - they come to the subject at the same level as the other children and are not afraid to have a go.
Days like this make me sway towards Primary teaching again - seeing children tackle new challenges with enthusiasm gives me a warm glow! I'm not going to give up on my dream - it may take a while but I'll get there in the end. I need to take every opportunity to be involved in lessons and keep learning; I am very fortunate to work with a great team of teachers who are happy for me to be involved.
(On the downside, my French oral exam is in 4 days and I have a rotten cold and sore throat - don't think that is going to help the accent too much!)
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