Spanish festival at Cumber Claudy

CUMBER Claudy Primary School held a 'Fiesta Espanola' on Friday to celebrate the inclusion of modern languages in their curriculum.

Spanish is offered to all pupils from P1 to P7 in Cumber Claudy PS. The Spanish tutor, Senora Elena Ballesteros, spends two hours each week in primaries 1 to 4.

The appointment of Miss Emma Funston this year has enabled the extension of Spanish into KS2 as she takes P5, P6 and P7 classes for an hour each week and her own P4 class also benefit from extra tuition.

In addition Miss Funston offers Spanish lessons in the after school Spanish club every Monday afternoon.

in Spanish classes the children are introduced to everyday vocabulary and phrases primarily through songs, fun and games while older pupils also learn a bit about Spanish life and culture.

Spanish is ranked as the world’s number two language and it is growing - more people speak Spanish than English.

Research on Bilingualism and Literacy states that bilingualism is good for language acquisition, for cognitive and academic development, for the self-confidence and self-esteem of the children. Bilingual children are better problem solvers and risk-takers, unafraid to get things wrong.

In this way, Spanish is seen as fitting perfectly into the Revised Curriculum.

Mrs Maureen Smyth, Principal, is delighted that Cumber Claudy PS can offer Spanish from P1 to P7 but realises that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

She hopes that the education system will see the need to further raise the profile of modern languages and maybe even support integrated learning programmes.

But until that happens, she says the school will continue to do what they can to keep Spanish alive.

The purpose of the ‘Fiesta Espanola’ is to showcase some of what the pupils have been learning this year and to highlight how much fun everyone has had in the process.

Pupils and staff dressed on traditional Spanish costume or in the Spanish colours, red and yellow.

Each class performed a short dramatisation, a song, some traditional Spanish dancing or demonstrated their ability to speak in Spanish. Parents, friends and invited guests were treated to Spanish guitar playing by Mr Sean Woods joined by two Flamenco dancers, Laura and Tina.

The celebrations came to a casual end over some typically Spanish tapas and light refreshments.