QPHS magazine - Autumn Term 2025 - Magazine - Page 8
Open Hearts & Minds
Logan, Year 7
It has been a busy first few months in
the Languages department, with
students demonstrating their creative
thinking and linguistic skills on both
the national and international stage.
On 26th September, we celebrated
the European Day of Languages,
with students across Year 7 and Year
8. Students were encouraged to get
creative for the annual poster
competition and design a piece that
reflected this year's theme:
'Languages Open Hearts and Minds'.
As always, students rose to the
challenge, and we were flooded with
wonderfully thoughtful and creative
entries. All student entries are now
on international display at the
European Day of Languages
website. There were two pieces in
particular, that caught the attention of
our department and we felt that these
students had truly encapsulated the
spirit of European Day of Languages.
Congratulations to Harrison and
Logan for your inspiring creations.
STEPHEN SPENDER PRIZE
Student9s work receives commendation
In Year 9, a group of students have
been utilising their language skills
to compete at national level.
Each year we offer students the
opportunity to participate in the
Stephen Spender Prize, an annual
competition for poetry translation
that celebrates the creativity of
young people across the UK and
Ireland.
During the summer of 2025, the
French Pen Pal Club looked at the
poem Soleil et Eau by Aimé
Césaire. Students were fascinated
by the contradictory imagery within
the poem and how Césaire used
this to express his conflicting
feelings towards his motherland or
his heritage. Students translated
the poem independently into
English, carefully considering not
only how to translate the words but
also convey meaning.
It has been a long and tense wait
Harrison, Year 8
over the summer break, but it was
definitely worth it, as we are thrilled
to share that Alona's translation
and commentary received a
commendation from the judges for
the Schools Laureate Prize in the
French category. A fantastic
achievement Alona, well done!
I am so proud of Alona and
her achievement. It is a
testament to the hard work and
commitment that Alona has
shown to learning French over
the last two years. Her
enthusiasm for learning about
different people, languages and
cultures shines through in her
work as well as her empathy
towards others.
Miss Worthington,
MFL Achievement Lead
