Language Club 

Language Club takes place on Friday lunchtimes in the ICT Suite.  This is run by the MFL Coordinator and helped by our new Year 6 Language Leaders. See below for further information on our Language Leaders.

Language Club is a fun time to learn Spanish and other languages such as French and Italian.

The sessions are run in blocks of 3-4 weeks and are held in year groups. This year we invited KS1 pupils along for the first time. The sessions are fun and interactive and include board games, songs, role play and playing games on selected Languages websites. The children also have the opportunity to record themselves speaking.

The KS1 sessions were so popular, that we had to split them into 2 groups!

Most of the sessions were run in Spanish, but this year we had some Italian sessions, which were led by some of our Italian-speaking pupils – Tomos Rees, Rosabella and Aurora Pitalis-Bliss. Most of the pupils who attended the sessions, were unaware that their fellow classmates were bilingual and enjoyed learning how to say everyday greetings, their name and age, in Italian. See also Italian Learning in Golden Time.

As you can see from the photographs, they were fully engaged and had lots of fun. It was a great learning experience for our three Italians too, as mini-teachers.

We hope to repeat this exercise with some of our other bilingual pupils next year. 

Autumn Term 2018

Two groups of keen linguists from Year 2 have taken part in three weeks of lunchtime Spanish language club.  They have shown off their knowledge of many colour words from last term and can now share their favourite colour too.  Added to this they are becoming  confident with greetings and introducing themselves too!  Our Year 6 Language Leaders, Ines and Rosie helped and encouraged during these sessions.  There will be further opportunities to join the language groups next term.

Mrs Dorsett's language Golden Time in October was a most enjoyable afternoon; it is hoped that a Christmas themed session can be included in the Golden Time planned for December.

Summer Term 2018

Spanish Lunchtime Language Club

A record 29 KS1 children signed up this term, which meant that all the 2017-18 Year 6 Language Leaders were needed to help with the organisation of the sessions. Their help was invaluable in running a ‘carousel’ of activities. Some worked on the computers, drawing themselves and writing what they are called in Spanish ‘me llamo...’, while others played a variety of games to extend their knowledge of basic vocabulary – numbers, colours, fruit etc. As you can see from the photo, they all had a fabulous time!

Spring Term 2018

New Year 6 Spanish Language Leaders

The New Year hailed the arrival of a new pair of Year 6 Spanish Language Leaders, Michael Moretto and Charlie Lake. The ICT Suite was filled with a great sense of humour and entertainment, which entranced the new group of pupils from Years 1 and 2. They even managed to make the numbers 1-10 seem more exciting than usual, using music, games and a little bit of acting!

They also taught them the days of the week, so that the pupils can help with the Spanish classroom calendar. The final session involved creating a piece of ICT to print out, laminate and take home, to remind them of the joy of learning a new language, inspired by their fellow pupils from Year 6. They each selected their favourite Spanish word to write and illustrate, as you can see from the photos below.  Muchas gracias chicos.

Also, pupils in Holly and Maple class can now ask for their morning snack in Spanish, if they choose to, with the help of the fruit poster shown below.

Autumn Term 2017

Our Year 6 Language Leaders Teach Year 1 Pupils

The Year 1s experienced their very first taste of Spanish in the run up to Christmas. They learnt the days of the week, so that they could help with their daily classroom calendar. During the final session, they combined their ICT skills with their Spanish learning, to draw and decorate a Christmas tree and label it Happy Christmas in Spanish – Feliz Navidad. One little boy said he wasn’t called ‘Felix’, so could he please write his own name on the picture!

Year 6 Spanish Language Leaders

A new school year and a new pair of Year 6 Spanish Language Leaders at Barnabas Oley!

They have already led three Friday lunchtime Language Club sessions for a group of ten Year 2 children. They have taught the numbers 1-10 and the months of the year through songs and fun games. The sessions culminated in the children producing a piece of ICT, which showed the month of their birthday in words and pictures. These were laminated for them to take home and share with their family.  After half term, they will teach a group of Year 1s.

The sessions culminated in the children producing a piece of ICT, which showed the month of their birthday in words and pictures. These were laminated for them to take home and share with their family.  After half term, our Year 5 Language Leaders will be teaching a group of Year 1 pupils.

Our KS2 Spanish Language Leaders

In January 2017, we recruited our first Year 6 Spanish Language Leaders.  Their first job was to plan and deliver a Lunchtime Language Club to a group of twelve Year 2 pupils. During a block of three half hour sessions, they taught them the numbers 1-10, simple greetings and the names of the fruits that they eat at break-time.

They prepared age-appropriate worksheets and played games to reinforce their teaching.  As you can see from the photos, the children had a lovely time. In the last of the three sessions, the children used the computers to draw and label the fruit they had learned, so that they could take them back to the classroom to encourage their fellow pupils to use the vocabulary at break-time, when choosing their snacks. Later in the year, two more Year 6 pupils took on the role.  They delivered sessions to both Year 2 and Year 1 pupils. Each group of new year 6 pupils will have the opportunity to take on the role of Spanish Language Leaders.

Bolsa Sorpresa

Mrs Jackson introduced this bag of Spanish surprises, earlier this year. It is full of a variety of Spanish resources - games, songbooks, reading books and a DVD. The selection is changed every now and then to suit different learning levels.

As a ‘thank you’ for borrowing the resources, Mrs Jackson asks pupils to write a few words in a book, saying what they most enjoyed, mentioning some of the words they have learnt and who they shared the bag with. The pupil is rewarded with a House point.

Comments have included the following from a Year 1 pupil:

"I liked the CD best. My favourite song was Los Meses del Año. I also liked the Hungry Caterpillar DVD. I have now learnt the months of the year in Spanish ready for learning Spanish in KS2 next year. Muchas graςias."