Spanish pen pals

Year 7 Wardle High School students with letters for their pen pals in Colegio Compañía de María de Vigo in Pontevedra, Northern Spain

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A group of Year 7 students are expanding their Spanish skills by becoming pen pals with a school in Spain. 20 students have written letters to Colegio Compañía de María de Vigo in Pontevedra, Northern Spain. The letters covered all the work they have done so far this year in Spanish with the students writing about themselves, who was in their family, what they look like, and their hobbies.

The project came about as Ms Helen Fletcher, who has friends in Northern Spain, set up her daughter with a pen pal at the school. The idea behind the project is to enthuse the students in their learning of the Spanish language. Wardle High School already has links with another Spanish school with students from there having visited Wardle High School three times. This is the first time however that the school has been involved in a pen pal project.

Having written their first letter, the hope is that the children will be in regular correspondence with each other and use Skype to communicate face to face. Wardle High School is looking into the possibility of visiting Colegio Compañía de María de Vigo with the Year 7 students. The teachers in Spain are keen to progress the project as much as possible.

Ms Helen Fletcher, the student’s Spanish teacher, said: "I hope this project will embrace their love of language and they can establish friendships with the students in Spain. I am hoping this is a project we can roll out to other year groups."

Javeria Habib, a Year 7 student, said: "I am quite excited by the pen pal project as it sounds fun and it will be a good way to revise everything that I have learnt in Spanish so far. Participating in the pen pal project will help improve my Spanish skills. Being able to speak and write in more than one language is a great talent so I feel privileged as this is the third language I am learning."

Wardle High School’s Modern Foreign Language department are keen to encourage the students to get fully involved in the language they are learning. In June Year 8 students are going to Paris, a trip that was held successfully last year.