Explore Languages
Workshop

On Thursday 14th November we saw the start of this year’s cohort take part in the Explore Languages workshop.

A group of 35 Year 8 students were involved in the workshop, delivered by Grace, a Student Ambassador from the University of Leeds. She spoke about Languages and University life and students took part in games and challenges.

There was a question and answer session where students could ask whatever questions they wanted about university. This year’s cohort are ready torise to the challenge of beating the opposition when we take part in the taster day and competition in February 2025.

On Monday night we won all the prizes when we went head-to-head against GORSE! No pressure Year 8 – ¡Vamos!

Year 8 Paris Trip

We had a fantastic trip to France with Year 8, spending five days discovering key landmarks and monuments in and around Paris. From the Louvre to The Avenue des Champs-Élysées and from the Chateau of Versailles to Parc Asterix our students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and have shown a level of maturity and responsibility we should all be proud of.

On the first day, we travelled to Vimy Ridge, the site of a First World War battlefield, to break our journey. Here the students visited underground tunnels and trenches before spending time at the Canadian National Memorial. Students read War poetry and used the school prayer for a moment’s reflection.

Day two saw a visit to the centre of Paris and lots and lots of walking! The morning started with a visit to the Sacre Coeur and the Place du Tertre, where we watched live artists at work. This was followed by a visit to the Centre Pompidou and the Hôtel de Ville. Although visiting the Eiffel Tower was one of the highlights of our trip, we also had the opportunity to visit Notre Dame Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and its pyramids, followed by a game of football at the Tuileries gardens. Another highlight was being able to shop along Champs-Élysées, where there were so many shops that aren’t available in Leeds, such as Sephora. A student commented that ‘walking through the streets of Paris was memorable’, and going into the various shops and cafes allowed us to practise our French speaking, which was very helpful and helped us step outside of our comfort zones.

Day three saw a visit to the Chateau of Versailles, following a market challenge around the town where students worked in small groups to discover more about food and drink in France. There was also a challenge for the best French speaker and who could barter the biggest deal. Mr Drummond then led a tour around the Château where we were able to see the Hall of Mirrors and where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. In the afternoon, following a meal at a crêperie, we made our way back to Paris. We had an excellent perspective of the Eiffel Tower from the Bateau Parisien boat trip, and the surrounding scenery was lovely.

On day four we had the opportunity to visit the Theme Park Parc Asterix. We had already studied this in class as part of the unit of work on a day trip, so it was great to be able to see the characters of the comic and try the different rides.

Finally, it was sadly time to return to England early on Friday morning. We visited a Chocolaterie where we sampled the different types of chocolate and had a guided tour.

The coach journey was certainly more sedate than on the way there, with the students exhausted yet exhilarated after their varied and action-packed itinerary, where culture and language met with fantasy and dreams!

Pen Friend with Collège Notre Dame des Vertus

The New Year brought lots of excitement for some of our Year 8 French classes. We had the opportunity to take part in exchanging letters with Collège Notre Dame des Vertus, a Catholic school in Saint-Denis, an area to the north of Paris.

The French students wrote in English and sent lots of Christmas cards to us. This term 8C and 8A have been busy writing about their hobbies and family and have sent letters and cards in French.

We are excited to get more students involved and to see where this link takes us.

Years 8-11 Jet2 Careers Talk

We were lucky enough to have a representative come to school to talk to our students about career opportunities at Jet2.

Jet2 are a fantastic company to work for and offer apprenticeships from post-16 up to degree level in a wide range of areas.

Here is what our students said:

The European Day of Languages

We celebrated the European Day of Languages on Tuesday 26th September, where the MFL department highlighted the importance of learning other languages.

Year 7 were very enthusiastic in the treasure hunt, where they had to find as many different ways of saying hello as possible. During tutor time there was a whole school languages quiz for everybody to showcase their skills and at lunchtime students had the opportunity to try a variety of European food and to say whether they liked it or not in a different language.

Bastille Day

The Year 7 students had the opportunity to learn more about French culture this week and have been looking at why the French celebrate Bastille Day on 14th July.

Classes listened to the national anthem ‘La Marseillaise’ and then tried a game of ‘pétanque’ which is bit like boules in English.

Bonne Fête Nationale!

Japanese Taster Session

Leeds Language Ambassadors talk

University of Leeds

We recently welcomed two students from the University of Leeds who came into to MSM to talk to our Year 8 students about future aspirations.

The aim was to give a presentation which informed our students about future study & career options using languages – the Ambassadors did exactly that!

They also explained a bit about University life and answered lots of questions which our students were eager to ask them.

Duo Lingo

The MFL department are pleased to announce that Gabriel Nyarko in Year 8 has achieved several badges following success on Duo-Lingo. This is a free language learning app which allows students to learn at their own pace through different grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation practice.

In December Gabriel attained the top 2% position of all learners which is an amazing achievement.
¡Bien hecho Garbriel!