Competition time

Today I took six of my Spanish group to the Bremen languages competition.

They were really nervous but they did me proud. There were better and worse groups but despite some technical difficulties, mine represented their groups and the school well.

We were really impressed with the entertainment from the school and with the competition.

All groups received prizes and certificates, which was nice. There were lots of exciting prizes so we've agreed to go back with an English entry next year!

I think both the pupils and I am more prepared for the next time and it's so important to do these 'extra' things for languages.

Competition Time

This week at work has mainly been spent helping my Spanish pupils prepare their competition entries for the regional rounds of the team language competition.

I've got two groups entering and although it hasn't been smooth sailing and there are still problems, I am really proud of both groups.

The boys did a video giving the school's history in Spanish (this year is the school's centenary) and the girls did a drawing video with a story about refugees in Spanish.

On my side I learned that I need to start much earlier in the school year with this project and I need to brush up my IT skills.

Nevertheless, we have achieved one of our department goals of taking part in more events and competitions.

London Planning

After our trip to Stockholm, I will be accompanying 70 year eights and six colleagues to London.

This week, I've been putting the programme together. So far we will be seeing, visiting, doing:

The London Eye - a great way to see the city.

Hyde Park - weather permitting...

The Tower of London - I already used this in lessons to get them into some British history with Henry VIII and his wives, the crown jewels etc. They also have an educational package I'm hoping will keep them busy.

A Thames Ferry - Greenwich to Westminster. Another great way to see a different side of London.

Camden Market - my favourite for shopping and lunch stalls.

Museum Corner - The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert, The Science Museum. I did the V&A last time and I'm hoping to see the Natural History Museum this year.

Oxford Street - shopping...did I mention we're taking seventy adolescents, some of whom have been saving for this trip since they were born.

Brighton! - our day trip. I've never been and I'm really looking forward to it.

Wintermarkt

Next week is my school's annual Winter Market. (It's really a Christmas market but we are a multi-faith school and Bremen strictly divides school and religion.)

Each class has its own stand and this year we've added a Spanish and French subject stand.

Each stand has to come up with its own product. Years ten and eight only are allowed to sell food and drink as they are raising money for class trips abroad.

In our first two years with this class, we made ornamental angels out of firewood and plaster. Last year, they opted to make henna tattoos and this year we will be doing the same with the addition of  Albanian cookies.

I'm planning to take Isabella along and, although it will be a long day, I'm quite looking forward to it.

European Day of Languages

Tomorrow is the European Day of Languages. As it's a Saturday, I've been doing quizes and lessons on it all week and we're having a whole school competition next week.

We haven't celebrated it in school before but it's important to get the kids to recognise the importance of languages and learn a bit more about them in a fun context.

This week I learned:

• there are around six thousand living languages,
• a third of them are African,
• some sign language,
• Japanese is written from top to bottom,
• the palindrome 'was it Eliot's toilet I saw?'.

I'm hoping to make it an annual event in school.

Schools out!

Today was the last school day of the year. It was long overdue and I think colleagues and pupils alike were ready for the break. It's been the most stressful end of year that I can remember, for different reasons but we're through it now and it's time to relax and recover.

It wasn't all negative though. In amongst everything, I felt very grateful. I thanked lots of colleagues who supported me this semester and received several thanks. We also said goodbye to several colleagues which is always sad, especially when they were colleagues I could work well with.

I'm excited and apprehensive in equal measures about the new school year but before I get bogged down in that, I'm taking a couple of weeks to shut off mentally, enjoy my family and house and freetime.

Graduation

One thing I love about my job is the cycle. This time every year is busy with reports, projects and graduation. I missed it last year and this year was especially moving as the class I have been most involved with graduated.

They were an extra large year group - seven classes instead of four - so the ceremony took place at the musical theatre which gave it an extra special twist.

There was a speech from the headteacher and each class gave a speech, some with videos, and thanked their teachers. It was really moving - for pupils and staff alike.

It's a huge highlight of my work to see how these young adults have grown up and are ready to go out into the world. I can't believe my own class is already half way there.

It was a lovely way to end the week.

Ristedt

This week we have been in Ristedt with my class.

It's my third time taking them there but the first time without my co-teacher who is still on maternity leave so I took Nico, Isabella and a colleague with me.

On the programme we had - swimming (out- or indoor depending on the weather), cooperative games, an English rally, a group quiz, cooking, baking, barbecuing, a disco and a night walk.

It turned out to be a chaotic but fun time and a steep learning curve for me. I'm looking forward to London next year where the kids will be in host families at night.

I was writing to my penpal about the trip and realised I only went on one residential trip with my high school class - in the first year. I went on lots of other fun trips and loved them but they were all optional.

Here, it's normal for every class to go away together every year and apart from the stress for the teacher, I think it's a great way to get the class to bond.

Ricitos de Oro

This was my view on Tuesday evening as my year six Spanish group made me and our Spanish assistant Laura very proud on stage.

At that age it is a huge thing to get up on stage in front of strangers, but to do it in a foreign language - I don't think I could have done it at 22 never mind at 12.

They performed twice and were brilliant.  I had the idea from a project in my NQT year and I hope it is something we can keep up for open evenings in the future too.

Autumn Market

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Today is our annual Autumn Market at school.  This year, like last, our class is making and selling these lovely wooden angels.  I bought one last year and will be unpacking it again for the first advent next weekend.  I can't wait! 

Saying Goodbye

On Friday, we cut our project short because we had the year ten leaving assembly.  I was honoured to receive a rose from each of the classes I taught in over the last three years.  The marking of time is one of the great things about our job, no two days are ever the same never mind two years, and working with crazy groups of individuals is always entertaining, if also trying at times.

A special visit

On Friday we continued project week with some graffiti portrait work which the dad of one of our pupils volunteered to come in to school and lead.  It was a great project and the results look fantastic but I think the pupils' favourite bit was when he brought along a former pupil of his who is a rapper in Berlin and he performed live for the class.  He took the time to sign autographs for them all and I am assured that he is now their new favourite singer!!  Here he is in action with his friend:

Serengeti Park

Following on with our animal project, we went to Serengeti Park on Thursday.  We had a great day out.  When we arrived, we took a safari tour in the bus and then we let the kids have free time in the amusement park while we had lunch and a drink to cool down in the 31 degree temperatures.

We arrived back in Bremen to thunderstorms but it was refreshing if nothing else.  We all had a great day out and I would love to go again.

Ytong Project

As part of project week, we took the class out to meet up with the guy who led the stone age project.  This time he showed us how to sculpt from a product called Ytong.  I can't find a translation for the word as it's a brand name but basically it's like a chalky breeze block.  As our project topic is pets, we all made a fish each and some then did extra sculptures.

As a teacher, it was really nice to take a step back and let him lead the group but the best part for me was getting creative for myself.  I find it really relaxing.  You can get Ytong from most DIY shops so I may do some more of this in my own time in future.

Stone Age Project

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On Thursday, we spent a little time outdoors with our class, learning how to start fires, shoot bows and arrows and throw spears.  Year five are completing a project about the stone age in GUP at the moment and each class had a couple of hours this week with an expert in Walle.

Our class received praise for being the best behaved despite the dismal weather and they really loved taking part.  There were a few heart stopping moments where pupils ran across the shooting range or threw firey cotton wool balls around but in the end they all had fun and nobody was injured.  I think some might even sign up for the longer courses in Summer.

It was an interesting experience for us too and while I can't share my pictures of the event here, you can get an idea from the photo above.

London - part five.

 From Tuesday, things got sunnier.  We went to St Paul's cathedral - all those steps were a challenge but the view was worth it.  That afternoon we headed to Oxford Street and walked the group to Denmark Street (music shops for the music profile class), China Town, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. 

 On Wednesday, we headed to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, Harrods and the museums.  I took a small group to the Victoria and Albert Museum which was great.  Harrods was a little disappointing for the kids, but we expected that because of the prices.  The prices shocked even me - 100g of green tea for £18!!  It was an experience though and now I can say I've been in there.

 On the last day, we took the pupils to Madame Tussaud's and shopping on Oxford Street.  The problem was that we were all tired.  It wasn't helped by the appalling queueing system - 50 minutes of standing in a spiral staircase with all 57 of our group as well as other groups and no air conditioning, I was good to drop by the time we got into the museum.  The waxworks were good but I would prefer to go at a quieter, cooler time and still find the tickets expensive.

Lunch with my colleagues was lovely and shopping was good.  The journey back was straight forward but tiring.  Our bags were checked at the port which was a first for me going through Dover.  Luckily, the kids were tired out and we all slept on the journey.

I loved the week.  I would definitely do it again - both take these kids on trips (I already started looking at Barcelona for the Spanish groups) and go to London - with Nico next time.  Can't wait!

London - part three.

 We hit all of the major sights on Monday with both the bus tour and the boat tour.  The boat tour was informative but I was highly annoyed by the guide's dialect - "they was...".  It's one of my pet hates (Nico was relieved when Alesha Dixon left Strictly and we could watch the dancing without my shouting at the screen every two minutes.  Luckily the kids weren't paying that much attention.

 We passed the Tower of London, some pirate bars and the dock from which the Mayflower was launched.  We got off the boat at Westminster to take some more photos and head to the London Eye.

 The families we stayed with were excellent.  We had been surprised to learn on arrival that we teachers were also sharing rooms which meant us three women in one room, with bunk beds.  It worked out well though, and the food was great.  Our host father was a head chef with the ministry of defence and we were treated to some great food including some traditional English food including, Yorkshire puddings!

 In fact, the feedback between the families, the women running things and us was excellent.  We knew how the kids had been with the families, if there were problems and whether they were eating.  Things were much smoother than in previous years, although, to be fair, we had a fantastic group as well.

 The kids even got into fish and chips with vinegar and bought out all the salt and vinegar crisps from Tesco on the way back.  Again, I was emotional at seeing the kids enjoying the trip so much. 

London - part two.

 Monday was somewhat cooler.  In the morning, we had a bus tour with a German-speaking guide.  It was a great way to cover a lot of ground.  Later, we walked over Tower Bridge and had lunch by the tower where the cannons were sounding.

 It happened to be the Queen's birthday.  We didn't see many celebrations this week, despite also being there for the marathon and St George's Day.  In a way I'm glad we missed the hectic side of the city though.  Some parts of the trip - travelling in the tube for example - were stressful enough.

 I have to say though, the group we had were fantastic walking together, getting on and off the tube together - we didn't lose anyone all week. Seeing the combination of new sights like the Shard and the traditional ones like the Tower was amazing.

Ice Skating!

This week's adventure was a bit of learning by doing when we took the kids ice skating on Tuesday.  They were all way better than us (or me anyway) even those who had never been before.  They nagged us to join them though and eventually we both took a turn around the rink.  I forgot how slippery it can be and I was on there just before it got cleaned!  I didn't fall but then I didn't give it much chance, clinging to the side and the kids like a limpet!  I'm glad I tried it again though.  I think my next challenge will be inline skating as that is supposed to be the first step in ice skating - maybe then I'll have better luck next year!

Christmas Angel

As I mentioned at the weekend, last week was our Wintermarket at school and our class made and sold wooden angels.  Here's the one I bought for our flat this festive season.  I wish I had been more involved so that I could include it on my crafts list.  Looks good doesn't it?