The Spanish department would like to acknowledge the participation of both staff and students in what has been a very busy term for the celebration of the Spanish language and culture in the school.

On September 26th, in a collaborative approach between all modern foreign language departments, Transition Year students taught the 1st year students multilingual versions of ‘Brother John’. Their joyous tones echoed through the school in celebration of The European Day of Languages and in celebration of the multilingual voices here in Holy Family. Thank you to the TY students for their help, and further thanks for posting updated labels of rooms and greetings in Spanish throughout the school at the start of the year. This gives all students the opportunity to recognise and absorb Spanish in their daily surroundings.

As some 570 million people speak Spanish around the world, the Spanish Department took great pride in celebrating ‘Día de la Hispanidad’ on October 12th. We would especially like to thank all teachers who played ‘La Gozadera’ at the start of the day, to allow all in the school to be get into the ‘fiesta’ mood. We hope it brightened up everyone’s start to the day. A colourful and informative display of Hispanic world culture was presented in the reception area, to allow all who passed to recognise the rich Hispanic traditions throughout the world of sport and the arts. All Spanish students were gifted bookmarks and sweets to add to the celebration.

For Transition Year’s first term activity week, a whole day of Spanish cultural celebration is organised by the Spanish department. The full day exposure to the target language is very beneficial for students and they get a holistic experience of the language and culture at its best. This year, the morning was spent cooking several Spanish and Mexican dishes; Tortilla española (Spanish omelette), Gazpacho (cold tomato soup), Mexican rice and Pico de gallo (a salsa dip for nachos). The students also got to taste a selection of cold meats. All students observed and helped with the preparation. There are some aspiring chefs in the group! In the afternoon students watched a Spanish movie, Pan’s Labyrinth, which depicts a sinister fairy tale twist on the aftermath of the Spanish civil war. And finally, the day ended with a table quiz, entirely in the Spanish language. The quiz was expertly prepared and presented by Mr. Laliena (the girls are very lucky to have such an open and enthusiastic native Spanish speaker as a classroom assistant this academic year). Overall, the day was a great success thanks to collaborative efforts of the Spanish department and of course the appreciation and active participation of the TY students.

And finally, we would like to wish the 5th year students every success on Friday November 9th, as we host the Spanish debate against Glongowes here in the school. !Mucha suerte, chicas! The girls are against the motion:

‘Los irlandeses se preocupan del medioambiente’

(The Irish people are concerned about the environment)

We are looking forward providing the girls with every opportunity to access the best of what the Spanish language and culture have to offer over the next term

The Spanish Department (Ms Navarro, Ms Doheny and Mr Laliena)