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15 February 2018
Pupils at Bolton School’s Junior Girls’ School absorbed the culture and languages of India during their annual Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Day. The day was organised by Mrs Joanne Hornby, the Junior Girls’ MFL teacher, and Mrs Jenny Labbé. They also invited parents and grandparents in to school to share their culture and knowledge of India.
The day began with a ‘show and tell’ assembly, during which girls sang, played musical instruments and performed a spectacular dance to set the scene.
Throughout the day, pupils completed an ‘Indian Passport’ which helped to guide them through their workshops as they discovered more about the country. There were many opportunities to collect points for their House while learning more about India.
One of the highlights of the day was the Indian dance workshop, led by a pupil’s mum: the girls enthusiastically learned the different steps and had fun putting them together to perform a short routine by the end of their session! During the morning there was also the opportunity for pupils to try on and find out more about different kinds of traditional Indian clothing.
There were workshops about different aspects of Indian culture as well. The girls learned about the symbolism of the colours in the Indian flag and discovered the Pongal harvest festival.
Over lunch, pupils enjoyed a delicious spread of Indian food provided by the Catering department, which included curries, naan bread and rice pudding. In the playground they had a go at creating their own fabulous and colourful Rangoli designs using sand after some instruction from parents and grandparents.
The afternoon was focused on creativity. Pupils found out more about Rangoli designs, which are usually made during Diwali or other Hindu festivals, and drew a Rangoli style elephant. They also created Mehendi hand designs and in small groups crafted brightly-coloured and bejewelled Indian elephants!
There was plenty of language learning throughout the day. Girls discovered how to write their name in Kannada and Tamil and sang songs in Tamil and Hindi.
At the end of their Passport, girls were encouraged to write down their reflections on the day, considering what their highlights and surprises were over the course of the experience.
The MFL Day was once again a huge success. This annual event has become a very popular fixture in the Junior Girls’ School calendar: girls have been transported to Russia, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium and Germany in recent years.
