Modern Foreign Languages

Bienvenudo, Bienvenue & Wilkommen

We have had a busy year with lots of our usual activities and some new ventures. The exchanges and study trips to France, Germany and Spain have provided the girls with superb opportunities to perfect their language skills and enhance their cultural knowledge. We opened up the department to Able and Talented linguists from the Bolton area at our Year 11 Language morning and it was lovely to work with Year 5 pupils on our Primary Languages day. We have also been delighted to welcome our new Head of French, Monsieur Fico and our French and German language assistants Pauline and Chantal. This year girls have produced both creative and thought provoking work during their language studies, a taste of which you will find on the subject pages. Angela Shafiq Head of MFL

J’ai choisi d’être assistante de français en Angleterre car je voulais découvrir la culture britannique ainsi que ce beau pays qu’est l’Angleterre. Être assistante de français m’a offert la possibilité de m’initier à l’enseignement mais m’a également permis de partager la culture française. Cette année en Angleterre a confirmé mon envie d’enseigner mais m’a aussi fait découvrir mon amour pour les voyages et les rencontres humaines. Cette année passée à Bolton School a été une véritable expérience de vie. Les élèves m’ont appris que rien n’est impossible et qu’il faut toujours croire en soi pour réussir. Ich bin seit September 2013 die deutsche Sprachassistentin hier an der Bolton School. Ich komme aus Basel, und da ich in der Schweiz Englisch- und Geschichtslehrerin werden möchte, war dieser Aufenthalt für mich ideal. Ich habe viele wertvolle Erfahrungen gesammelt und sehr schöne und vergnügliche Stunden hier an der Bolton School verbracht. Vielen Dank!

Languages Day

After a gruelling exam period, the Year 8 girls were in the mood to take part in fun language activities and learn some new skills. The German cooking sessions meant that they could enjoy waffles and biscuits, as long as they got the ingredients right! Salsa demanded a little more energy and a sense of rhythm in order to keep in time and Mr Challinor provided an introduction to Italian with a lot of unusual pronunciation tips. All girls enjoyed the performance of a French play “Mon père ne me comprend pas“ from the Onatti theatre company.

Able & Talented

Last October, for the first time, we took part in the day of MFL activities at Manchester Metropolitan University offered to able and talented year 10 students. Five girls for each language went with Miss Irvine to Manchester for a day of language immersion.

MFL Debating

In November we took part in the annual North Schools’ MFL Debating Competition at Cheadle Hulme School. The teams debated entirely in French, Spanish and German. Topics included ‘Prisons are of no use’ and ‘Dogs are better than cats’. All girls showed excellent debating skills and knowledge of the language.