This week saw the addition of yet another exciting new club for boys: the Cultura Española Club (already up and running are the new Y3 Careful Colouring Club, the Y5 Calligraphy Club and Dice Hockey Club, not to mention a further 50+ existing clubs.   

Each week, the Cultura Española Club, which is open to all Y8 Spanish students, looks at different aspects of Spanish-speaking culture, including festivals, sport, music and food.

In week one, the focus was, fittingly for the time of year, on Día de Muertos (The Day of the Dead). In the fun-filled session, the boys learned all about the customs of this traditional three-day typically Mexican celebration honouring the dead, from the brightly coloured calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons) to the food prepared, such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), to the ofrendas (shrines) that are built and adorned with marigolds called flor de muerto (flower of dead). 

The boys then enjoyed creating and colouring in joyful calaca, in keeping with the belief that death should be a joyous occasion – no dead soul likes to be thought of sadly. They wrapped up the first sessions with a Dia de Muertos themed game of bingo – in Spanish, of course.

Mrs Gordon, told us, “I started the Cultura Española Club because language and culture are intertwined. In my Spanish lessons, boys often ask me questions about aspects of Spanish culture, as they know that I lived there for 19 years. As EAL coordinator, I’m also a strong defender of cultural awareness, which ties in with our Future Skills programme too, where ‘respect for others and their wishes, rights and traditions’ is an important sub-skill of the value of ‘kindness’.”

For week two, the theme will be Spanish La Liga football: a session that is sure to be a hit with all the boys – after all it was their idea!

 

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