MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Global Issues Group

by Anna Chew, Environmental and Ethics Officer - Year 12

I’ve had the joy of leading the Global Issues Group this year, after being voted into the role of Environment and Ethics officer for the Student Union. It’s been such a great opportunity to get involved with something I'm passionate about, working with some fantastic likeminded students to try and discuss how to play our part, as a school and personally, to make change. A main focal point for the group this year has been forming a School Sustainability plan and considering a number of events and activities, which would encourage students to get involved and take an interest and ultimately help the school become more sustainable.

The group is made up of a number of really enthusiastic members, who are all really passionate about a range of global issues. We frequently discuss how to make a change and, as individuals, all have issues which we are particularly passionate about. The group provides us with a platform to talk about things that concern us and what we can do about them. We wanted to support a cause which each one of us was particularly passionate about, to raise money for a range of charities over the year.

Maddie has a particular interest in Animal Welfare and preventing the mistreatment of animals by protecting their physical and mental needs. Issues which often lead to poor animal welfare are treatment in zoos, animal testing, living conditions, hunting for rare species, and the food industry. Her chosen charity was Save the Elephants.

Eloise is passionate about making a change to poverty, especially enabling people to have access to safe drinking water. Her chosen charity was Evidence Action. One of their main programmes is to provide safe water dispensers. Every year, 830,000 people die from diarrhoea due to unsafe drinking water. They focus on making sure that the water treatment is sustainable and can be accessed by as many people as possible. Operating in six countries, so far it has allowed 4 million people to access safe water where they didn’t before and this is why we chose it as such an important charity to support.

Ruth’s chosen charity is the International Justice Mission, which focuses on human rights and law enforcement. IJM works to combat trafficking, child sexual assault, forced labour slavery, property grabbing, police abuse of power, and addresses citizenship rights of minorities. IJM provides training, mentoring and support to local law enforcement and other community leaders to slow down and stop the cycle of violence. With human trafficking generating $150 Billion annually and over 40 million people trapped in slavery globally (this is more than ever before in human history), this feels like a more than appropriate charity to support with one of our planned events.

With a third of the UK’s green places in danger of being lost or degraded, Sasha felt supporting The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) would help to save the spaces that communities use everyday, such as the local playing field, the nearby allotment or the small urban woodland and these are the spaces most at risk. These community green spaces, with no special protection are at risk of being lost in the face of budget pressures and restrictions. TCV delivers practical volunteering programmes, providing people with everything they need to play an active role in creating, protecting and improving green spaces. TCV plants trees providing homes for wildlife and improving climate and air quality whilst balancing the needs of nature and people, from boardwalks and dipping platforms to fences and footpaths. Sasha thinks this is a brilliant organisation to support as the mobilising and supporting of volunteers, in locations including Yorkshire ensures that these precious areas of woodland, rural meadows, urban parks and community green spaces are protected for future generations to enjoy.

Sustainable fashion was what initially got me so invested in global issues. The fashion industry often raises many ethical concerns and equally often impacts the environment and I believe it is something which for all of us, can be easy to make personal change to. The charity I chose was the Environmental Justice Foundation, which looks at environmental security with a human rights focus, running across the five key areas of oceans, climate, food, cotton and activist training. I really look forward to supporting this charity next year as it really works to combat a number of ethical and environmental issues. We planned numerous events, for instance upcycling workshops, a green week and fairtrade bake sales. These events are all part of our planning to improve the sustainability of the school as we believe getting students involved should be at the forefront of making change.

Hopefully, over the next academic year, there will be opportunities for these events to take place as being able to support these transformative charities and increase awareness would be great. As well as raising money to support these charities, hopefully it raises awareness as well as getting students involved in global issues.The Global Issues Group provides students with a platform to discuss what they are passionate about, whilst educating members of the group and encouraging others to be involved and make a change in regards to issues that concern them. The group hopes to have a lasting impact on the school community. We hope to do this through planned events and making changes to the school system in order to reduce our impact on global issues. In our sustainability plan so far we have set out to make changes to a number of aspects at school, after deliberating and pinpointing where the focus should be and where change may be needed.

Ultimately as a group we want this community to feel as passionate as we do and to want to make changes: any change big or small will contribute to an ultimate increase in sustainability as well as more awareness for global issues. As I said, it's been a pleasure to lead the group. All the members have had such a valuable contribution with some amazing input and ideas. The collaborative unit we have as a group has been crucial to our success. With a heavy focus on thorough planning, the teamwork and commitment of the team has been extremely beneficial. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the group this year, from those who popped into a couple of sessions to those who attended week in week out. Your contribution has been appreciated. An emphasised thank you to Ruth Gardiner, Maddison Marner, Eloise Woolley and Sasha Hildyard who have made such a significant contribution to the group always making their best efforts to contribute whilst supporting me as leader. Equally, to Mr Hargreaves and Mr Tribe for supporting our ideas and inputting their ideas and ways to improve, giving us confidence in our plans and providing us with an opportunity to discuss what we are passionate about.

WAKEFIELD WHERE GIRLS GAIN MORE THAN ACADEMIC MASTERY

Modern Foreign Languages

Salamanca, Spain 2019

On the 20th October 2019, a group of girls from WGHS and boys from QEGS, set off at five in the morning towards Manchester Airport. The tiredness turned into euphoria in the early morning haze, and the chatter of excitement flooded the coach. By noon we had landed in Madrid, and piled into the bright orange minibus that would take us to Salamanca. When we arrived in the city, we were greeted by a crowd of bustling Spanish ‘parents’, calling out the names of the pupils they were going to look after. As we sheepishly walked away from the comfort of the teachers in our groups of two or three, the reality of staying with complete strangers and the thrilling excitement of experiencing a new culture set in.

When we arrived at our home for the week, we were immediately made to feel welcome, with our Spanish hosts attentive to our every need, sympathetic to our apparent nerves. For many of us, the first meal with the host family was a traditional ‘tortilla de patatas’, accompanied by the simplicity of our nervous Spanish sentences, eager to answer our hosts’ burning questions about our hobbies, family and home. The first night passed quickly, and the next morning we woke up ready to attend our first lessons at ISLA (our school in Salamanca). For this first morning, our hosts’ accompanied us down the winding cobbled streets of the city, passing a chaotic fusion of historic and modern buildings that looked completely stunning in the morning light. The more time we spent with our hosts the more comfortable we began to feel, and we spent our nights watching Spanish news and chat shows, playing card games, discussing our experiences at the school, and the occasional panic when the host’s cat got stuck in the apartment lift.

Our lessons at ISLA were both relaxed and intense, providing us with many resources and allowing us to learn Spanish more fluently in an enriched cultural setting. We began our mornings with grammar lessons, followed by work based on themes studied at GCSE. After this came the all important break, when in our groups we would walk down to the corner shop and buy biscuits and snacks to share (or not share!) with our classmates, and socialise with students from other schools. Our final lesson of the day was a much anticipated speaking lesson, in which we discussed all aspects of life from social media and TV programmes to politics in Spain, aided by photocards and Kahoot quizzes. The experience we gained from our Spanish teachers was invaluable, all whilst spending most of our lessons laughing with each other.

After a comforting lunch at our hosts’ homes, we met outside the school to embark on our afternoon activities. Over the course of the week we experienced a salsa dancing class, cooking class, a tour of Salamanca directed by one of the teachers from ISLA, and visited a bullfighting museum, magic show, art deco design haven ‘Casa Lis’, and went on a mini tapas tour in the city. Perhaps one of the best activities was having ‘chocolate y churros’ in a local cafe. Through these activities we were able to experience a large part of the historic city, with the university and two cathedrals being some of the most spectacular sites. In addition to these activities, one day we played a game in which we had to find a series of local souvenirs and edible delicacies in the shortest amount of time in order to win a prize. This game was not only a lot of fun, but also encouraged us to use our Spanish knowledge and communicate with local shop owners in order to get the information we needed. Each evening we also had some free time to explore the streets around the main square, including local shops, a five floor Zara, and an antique book fair, in which

some of us used our Spanish bargaining skills to great effect! My favourite trip was our excursion to Barrio del Oeste, a district in Salamanca famed for its graffiti murals lining the otherwise dark and gloomy streets, it was a world away from the historic university district, yet somehow it summed up our experiences across the week spectacularly.

By the end of the week, we were all exhausted and disappointed to be leaving Spain. Our experiences in Salamanca gave us an injection of enthusiasm for the Spanish language and culture, but also a new found confidence that we had all survived. Staying with our hosts gave us a unique opportunity to experience Spanish culture, and we would like to thank Mrs Walker and Mr Konopinski for organising this memorable trip.

Eleanor Bowen - Year 11

Review of Leeds University French Talk

The school offered an opportunity for some of the students to get an insight into what learning languages is like in university as well as becoming familiar with the overall benefits of knowing more than one language. One great thing about the discussion was that it was targeted and suitable for a vast number of year groups - any student would have found it useful as it was easy to understand yet still very informative. For me, it was especially helpful as I am now in Year 9 and have to start thinking about my options for

GCSE. When picking I believe there are two things to consider: whether you enjoy studying the subject and whether the subject will help you later in life. I do find languages to be one of the subjects that I take an interest in, so having people come from a On Tuesday 10th March two actors from Onatti productions performed the play 'Das schlimmste Hotel' to students in Years 9 and 10 from WGHS and QEGS. The production was very funny and thoroughly enjoyed by all. We can't wait for next year's production - Horoskop.

Mrs Lister

university, who are having the language learning experience first hand, does shed light and give me more certainty of what I want to consider.

The girls showed us how many doors are opened in the job world by doing languages. First introducing us to the wide range of courses that are provided in university languages (not just French, Spanish or German) and furthermore showing us that learning can go beyond the classroom. Some universities offer chances to stay in the country of the language you are studying or even voluntary work based on the language. The business world, in particular, finds languages a good quality to have as it looks very good on a CV if one would want to

Spanish Play

Watching a play in Spanish and writing a review in Spanish is a fabulous example of the academic rigour at Wakefield Girls’ High

School. GCSE Spanish student

Eden Perez Nijar Year 10 demonstrates her Spanish skills in this review of La Primera Cita.

On 15th January 2020 Year 9 and Year 10 QEGS and WGHS students enjoyed the Spanish play, La Primera

Cita, performed in Spanish. They followed the hilarious antics of two teenagers getting ready for their first date, while revising key language in a fun, interactive and visual way.

apply for a job in a foreign country. What I took from the discussion is that language learning does not consist of just learning vocabulary and grammar. Yes, these are important, but it's important to take an interest in the culture and history of a place and its language. If you want to learn a language, you must really live it and have a real passion for that language.

German Play

Charisa Bechani - Year 9

Yo pensaba que ‘La Primera Cita’ fue muy entretenido y educativo al mismo tiempo. Lo recomiendo porque creo que es bastante fácil de entender y muy divertido a veces. Además, hay que decir que el profesionalismo de los actores era impresionante y me gusta mucho que los estudiantes participen también (por ejemplo, los actores nos pidieron nuestra opinión sobre las cosas). Mi parte favorita de ‘La Primera Cita’ fue cuando los adolescentes estaban preparándose para la cita puesto que me pareció gracioso. En mi opinión, miraría esto otra vez ya que era interactivo, muy comprensible y definitivamente interesante que ver.

MFL Assistants

Eva

Hello everyone! ¡Hola a todos! I am Eva, and I have been the Spanish Assistant during the academic year 2019-20. First and foremost, I would like to say that I am grateful to have the chance to introduce myself and write about my experience in the school magazine. I am from Moixent, which is a little town in Valencia, and I studied to become a teacher at Universidad Católica de Valencia. After my degree studies, I came to England and I started to work as a teacher assistant in WGHS and QEGS. I feel very lucky to have been placed at WGHS and QEGS, it has been a great experience despite the exceptional situation in which we have been immersed. From this experience, I have learnt not only about teaching language techniques but also about the UK education system and English culture. Moreover, this experience has brought me the chance to improve my English skills, which was one of my main goals when I came to England, but that is far from being one of the best things that I take from there after having the opportunity to learn from very professional language teachers and to meet amazing people throughout my experience as a Spanish Assistant. Finally, I would like to finish by saying that I send my best wishes to both every single one of the Spanish students and the school staff. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you and I am impressed with the improvement of the students along the academic year which is indeed a consequence of their indubitable effort and the professional job of the school staff. Congratulations to all of you!

Amelie

Bonjour! My name is Amélie and I was the French assistant for the year 2019-20. I come from Arras, a town in the north of France, where I have been studying English and teaching it. Living in England was a dream for me and I couldn’t be happier with how this year turned out. I got the chance to discover the beautiful Yorkshire and to meet lovely people. I enjoyed my time here, the places I discovered, the people I met and the friends I made.

Working at Wakefield Girls’ High School was a really rewarding experience. The staff was lovely, the pupils were really good. It was great to work with such interesting students. This year has taught me so much about English culture and language. The only negative aspects I can find in this experience is that I will miss the time I have spent here, and I wish I could have spent more time and discovered more about the area!

“I got the chance to discover the beautiful Yorkshire and to meet lovely people. I enjoyed my time here, the places I discovered, the people I met and the friends I made” WHERE GIRLS ARE SUCCESSFUL

Moritz

Hello! My name is Moritz and I was the German Assistant at WGHS this year. I live in Frankfurt am Main, quite a big city in the southwest of Germany, where I study English and Politics in order to become a teacher. With just a couple of terms left to study, I felt it was the perfect time to spend some time abroad. I have always been very fond of British popular culture like music, literature and of course football, and I always had a strong desire to try living in the UK for some time. My stay in Wakefield didn’t disappoint me. I felt extremely welcome and at home right from the beginning. I loved to discover Wakefield and Leeds, as well as Yorkshire’s beautiful landscapes, and I met lots of new friends from all over the world. I also feel very grateful that I had the chance to work in such a great place as WGHS. I really enjoyed teaching all of the gifted students, as well as finding out about the trickier aspects that make my native language difficult to learn. I would like to thank all of the teachers (especially Frau Lister and Frau Djokovic), all of the staff and the students for making this time so special for me. I would have loved to continue working and living in Wakefield a while longer, but a worldwide pandemic had different plans for all of us. However, I hope to return and see everybody again soon. Bis bald!