2018 has been a big year for the Spanish Department. This year we have embarked on our first year of NCEA assessment for the Seniors and welcomed Señora Ward and Señora Schroeder to the teaching team. Here are some of the highlights.

The Year 9 Spanish classes have learned skills such as how to introduce themselves and talk about their hobbies, school, city, family, friends and pets. In November they celebrated Día de los Muertos (Mexico’s Day of the Dead). This included decorating calavera masks and cookies and learning about the traditions of this important festival. Junior students also participated in the national Spanish dance project - Spanish students all over New Zealand put on their dancing shoes and danced in unison to a catchy piece of Latin music. This year’s song was ‘El mismo sol’ by Alvaro Soler. The students executed their choreography with style and learnt lots of new vocabulary along the way.

The Year 10 Spanish classes have worked on a range of topics this year, including holidays, music, food and arranging to go out. During their food units, both Year 10 and Year 11 students had the opportunity to practice their language in a real life scenario with the visit of the Argentinian food truck ‘El Quincho’, which specialises in wood fired BBQ. Students tried typical South American cuisine such as empanadas, choripanes and sándwiches de pollo - but only if they ordered in Spanish, of course. ¡Delicioso!

The first three Year 11 Spanish classes ever also had a busy year, producing some incredible work for their written and conversation portfolios. In Term 2 they had the invaluable experience of participating in the University of Canterbury Spanish Immersion Day where they had the opportunity to interact with other Spanish students from around the region.

¡Hasta el próximo año!

Señora Moreno