Across the campus we have been focussing on how important language learning is to our educational, social and cultural development as we continue on our learning journey.

P6 in particular have been using their knowledge of English to use adjectives in French sentences.

P3 have been learning all about cognates and near-cognates and can recognise them.

Some very exciting news!  We have been asked to take a group of children to perform at the Europe Day celebrations in George Square in conjunction with Glasgow University.  This is indeed an honour.  Apparently, we are the ‘..talk of the Portuguese Diplomatic Service…’

In the Family Centre two new friends Tilly and Leo came to help us with French and we have been learning about family words.

March has been such a busy month, we have had no time to update our blog!

Four of our pupils competed in the SEET Euroquiz.  Competition was tough!  We came second in the language round (Mrs Allen was VERY happy with that)  We didn’t win overall, but Thomas said it was great taking part.

Mrs Allen invited Mr Curley, Mr Bonnar and Mrs McDermott to have lunch with her AMAZING team of Euroquizzers and their reserves.  It was brilliant!  We tried foods we hadn’t tried before- Chloe’s not convinced about olives…

Lots of parents enjoyed learning about Easter in France at the Stay and Play session.  We made French Easter cards and learned how to Say Happy Easter in French.

Across the campus we learned about Easter traditions in France and made cards.  P3 really enjoyed hearing about the story of the Easter Bells – les Cloches Volantes.  I hope they got lots of ‘chocolats’ and ‘oeufs de Pâques’ from ‘le lapin de Pâques’.

P6 have been extremely busy writing their letters to pen pals in France.  How exciting it was to receive letters from our French friends the day we broke up for Spring break!

Looking forward to more French Fun and some Spanish in P5, 6, and 7.

We celebrated la Fête des Mères in the family centre last week, although Mothers’ Day isn’t until 27th May in France this year.  We made ‘cartes’ for our mums, grans, aunties or sisters and sang a song about mums in French.

In school P6 have started to write new letters to our French pen-pals-Katie can’t wait to post hers.  P5 have been recording a fun song about birthdays-Aiden likes to dab when it’s his turn..  P7 have been learning to conjugate avoir and être and have been using them in sentences.  Luca is super-fast at learning verbs!

Across all areas of the campus learning French is fab!

P6 have been learning about the European Union and Chloe, Jaime, Rosalin and Thomas represented our school at the Euroquiz Heats on 22nd February.

‘We didn’t win, but we came second in the Language Round and we had great fun and learned a lot. Mrs Allen will be so proud!’  Chloe said.

Indeed I was! The pupils represented us beautifully and were a credit to their parents and the school.

Across the Campus we continue to build on our skills in French through a variety of media and experiences.

Today is Pancake day in France- or crêpes day!

It marks the beginning of February and the mid-point of winter, so people have treats like crêpes to cheer themselves up.  It’s also the day that all the candles in the church are blessed for the coming year.

Tradition says that crêpes must be eaten only after eight in the evening. If the cook can flip a crêpe while holding a gold coin in the other hand, his household will enjoy prosperity throughout the coming year.

In the Family Centre we sang a song about La Chandeleur

and we ‘made’ and decorated pancakes.  Paighton just loved making hers, and Tippi put a huge chocolate button on top of the one she made!

This week we had Madalena from Portugal helping us in P2, P2/3, P3 , P5 and P6 to learn all about Portuguese language and literature.   Sean said she was ‘cool!’

It’s full steam ahead in P6 as we prepare for our Euroquiz Heats.  It was really exciting to receive boxes from the European Commission with fantastic resources.  Erin is super-keen to learn about Europe.

P7 continue to enjoy Mondays with Ben, our fantastic French Language  Assistant.  Speaking French with a native speaker is such a wonderful experience.

Another busy week!

À bientôt!

P5 have been learning how to ask when somebody’s birthday is and answer correctly.

Lucas said, ‘Mon anniversaire, c’est le vingt-six âout.’

Shona said, ”Mon anniversaire, c’est  le vingt-deuz mars.’

Devran said,”Mon anniversaire, c’est  le vingt-trois octobre.’

Liam said, ‘Mon anniversaire, c’est le quinze avril.’

Orlaith says she knows all the months of the year now.

Caleb knows the days of the week.

We’ve been learning about festivals and how to say ‘Happy birthday!’ and how to wish someone a happy Easter, Christmas, Fathers’ Day and other occasions.

We can use the calendar in French and say when different festivals take place.

In the Family Centre we made models of a bus (un bus)  and boats des bateaux( using huge boxes-what fun we had!

P1 have been following the adventures of Minou and Trottine and their toys.

P2, 2/3 and P3 have been learning about different aspects of the weather- and we’re very glad to say, ‘Il ne neige plus!’

P4 are busy finding out about different parts of the body and will reveal their ‘monstres’ soon!

P6 have been finding out about musical instruments in French through Le Carnavale des Animaux.

P7 are looking at the Seasons and geography around La Camargue in the Languedoc region of France which is famous for wine, pink flamingos, black bulls and white horses.  It’s also a great place to go on holiday. Mrs Allen says to remember the mosquito repellent as the marshes attract big ones!

What a busy time we have had in December and January.

December was spent finding out about Christmas traditions in France. P2 and P3 made ‘petits souliers’ and left them for St Nicolas who visited and left treats!

Across the campus we learned all about Epiphany and how it is celebrated in France. In the Family Centre the children loved baking galettes des rois and making crowns to wear.

P7 have been enjoying our visits from Ben the French Language Assistant from Eastwood High School on a Friday. He has been helping us with our speaking assessments about what we do in our free time and what we like to do at school.   we also sent card to our partners  in Italy, Poland and France. Why don’t you ask us about it?

P6 have also been very busy sending and receiving cards from our French Pen Pals. They even included a wee surprise of a special French sweetie to eat on Christmas Eve. Next, we will write a letter to them to tell them what we’ve been up to. Rosalin says she loved getting her card and finding out about her new French friend

P5 have been learning about the calendar in French, and can confidently ask one another when their birthdays are.

P4 are finding out how to say parts of the body in French. Watch out for our ‘monstres’ on Twitter.

P3 have been talking about the weather and know how to say lots of different weather phrases- very topical with all the snow we’ve been having!

P2 just won’t stop chatting in French! They can have real conversations now, using lots of questions and answers. Check it out on Twitter!

P1 adorent le francais! They are loving discovering what the toys in our stories get up to next. They can all say their names and ages and ask and tell each other how they are! The favourite game is ‘Trouvez une Place’ and they have to listen for a French fairy tale and follow the instructions for the action. ‘Grimpez vers le ciel’ (Climb up to the sky!) is the best one for Jacques et l’Haricot Géant. (Jack and the Beanstalk)

Across in the Family Centre the children have been extremely busy celebrating Epiphany the French way with crowns and galettes des rois, and we have been playing games and drawing modes of transport. I think Charlie liked the camion de pompiers best, and Lyle would not give the bus to anyone!

Another busy week ahead. The pupils are becoming real francophones!

A bientôt!

This year Mrs Allen has been coming to the Family Centre every Friday to introduce French to all of the children.  This is done through a variety of media- songs, rhymes, dances, stories, writing, art and even baking!

We have covered numbers to ten,  colours and animals so far.  We had great fun baking French cupcakes, painting Elmer and learning French songs.and we made hot chocolate and drank it outside.  Kairon and Olivia all enjoyed the baking and Callum loves to listen to Elmer and The Three Little Pigs in French.

We are planning to learn all about how French children celebrate Christmas.  There will be lots of new things to find out.

We’ve had such  busy time in French!  P1 have been learning all about toys and meeting the characters in our new French interactive resource.  Eilidh loves guessing, ‘Qui est là?’ and Zachary’s favourite character is Gaston, le ballon.  Caelan always shouts ‘bonjour!’ when he sees me in the corridors.

P2 have been meeting the toys too and they enjoy saying ‘bonjour’ in different voices.  Sophie likes to practice French questions with her friends and all the children have been having conversations.  Marcy and Kirsten like doing French calculations, it’s great to be able to transfer our numeracy skills to languages.

P3 have been learning about the family, and Ivy drew a great picture of her family and know the words for each member.

P4 are just brilliant at all the French questions.  It is great to hear all the children speaking in French. Theo likes hearing about L’Ecole des Singes and thinks the stories are funny. Emily has been working hard on her French accent so that she can sound just like a French girl.

P5 are stars!  They have been learning all about pets and are able to ask questions about their animals and answer them.  Devran, Callum and Lucas have fabulous accents and sound really French now.  We had good fun listening to our presentations and look forward to hearing more.  Exciting news-we are going to video them and send them to our French friends in Versailles.  More later…!

P6 have been working hard to learn all about places in the town.  Rosalin was really interested to hear that some of the words are very similar to English.  The plans of Neilston were great and all labelled in French.

P7 have been talking about sports .  Nathan told us he likes football in French.  Tess said she likes dancing.

More updates on our International journey soon!

What a fantastic day we had celebrating the European Day of Languages. We all dressed in the colours of a European country.   The day began with the children ordering their European Lunch. It was great to taste different foods and some we didn’t even know were from a different European country!The whole school and some chldren from the Family Centre met in the hall for an extravaganza of songs, action rhymes and video clips, all showcasing something they had learned about European Languages. Mr Hamilton, Head of Modern Languages from Eastwood High School, came along to watch and loved our show. We loved watching everybody else and the P1s,2s and 3s were so cute singing and acting. All the posters were really good. We had to do a European quiz using QR codes and find the questions all over the school.  The best thing of all was the film we made for our Etwinning project- more about that later! We have some really exciting news. Mr Curley told us that we have been awarded the Foundation Level of the International Schools Award. It’s a fantastic achievement for our Campus, and marks the start of our Etwinning international journey.  More updates on that soon! Now we are looking forward to having more fun learning French with Mrs Allen and working with our French partner school.  It’s great being International! Watch this space.