Outreach Language Teaching

Our Modern and Classical Language teachers have been introducing local primary school pupils to French, Spanish and Latin.

Each week, our Senior School teachers visit Eleanor Palmer Primary School in Kentish Town to deliver lessons to pupils in Year 3 to Year 6. South Hampstead’s Classics outreach programme has been running at local primary schools for over 8 years. Last September, our teachers began with Latin teaching at Eleanor Palmer, before introducing French and Spanish this year.

Our Head of Modern Foreign Languages, Mr Morley, has been teaching pupils to count in Spanish; in French, they have been learning vocabulary to express how they are feeling. In Latin, pupils have made beautiful posters to help them remember vocabulary; Classics Teacher, Ms Turnor, has been impressed by how they are making tangible connections to language today. “Pupils have been comparing Latin with Spanish and French. One boy was delighted to work out that the Latin for wasp was the inspiration for the name of the Italian scooter, Vespa.” 

Mr Morley added: “It’s such an enriching experience to see the creativity and enthusiasm of the pupils and receive such a warm welcome from everyone at the school.” 

The successful partnership between the two schools has also won a government grant to provide a languages library at Eleanor Palmer, helping to promote reading in Modern Foreign Languages.