Pupils from Vallis First School explored different ways to express themselves last month, using international languages and the language of poetry.
During Languages Day, visitors helped children develop their vocabulary in English as well as Dutch, Polish, Spanish, French and Ukrainian.
Mieke McGuinness read
the story of Miffy in her native Dutch and shared treats of chocolate sprinkles on bread. The Babiarz family read a story in Polish to the children in Year 2, who also learnt a range of French greetings while enjoying croissants and cheese. The children worked with a Spanish A-level student from Frome College to listen to the story of Snow White in Spanish.
New headteacher Georgine Muxworthy said, “It is so important for children to learn that there is a big wide world outside of Frome, and being able to communicate with others enables them to hold out the hand of friendship. Our vibrant and diverse school community meant thirty children were able to share their language, including Romanian, Bengali, Malayalam, Urdu, Russian, Filipino, Thai and Portuguese.”
The school welcomed local poet Liv Torc as part of its celebration of poetry on National Poetry Day. The children enjoyed listening to some poems she had written. When her daughter was at Vallis, Liv used to write a poem each day on her daughter’s banana, and she has compiled these into a book called Banana Poems. She worked with the children in assembly to create a counting poem. Liv then led a poetry workshop with the older children, guiding them to write poems about a school fire and emotions.
Two classes also participated in a Guinness World Record attempt for the world’s largest poetry lesson, joining poet Laura Mucha and 270,000 children worldwide.
“The whole day was a celebration of poetry,” said a school spokesperson. “The children really enjoyed listening to poems and writing their own fantastic poems, which have been compiled into anthologies in school.”
Pictured: the Babiarz family with Liv Torc
