Primary school pilots national language bee

Ormiston Meadows Academy in Peterborough has been delighted to welcome Jane Driver, deputy principal of Queen Katharine Academy, to pilot the Primary Modern Foreign Language Bee which is being launched nationally in January 2020.

The Primary Translation Bee, which focuses on pronunciation, memory, high frequency words and classroom phrases, is the latest addition to the Foreign Language Bee family, which started in 2009 with the Year 7 Spelling Bee.

Pupils from Years 5 and 6 at Ormiston Meadows Academy, which is sponsored by Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) volunteered to test their language skills against the clock, with the top four pupils progressing to the next stage. The new programme will launch nationally in January, with regional finals taking place around Easter and a national final at Cambridge University in July.

The national programmes, which see thousands of students participating each year, were created by Ms Driver, and rolled out through Routes into Languages East at Cambridge University in conjunction with Queen Katharine Academy and Comberton

Village College in Cambridge.

Kelly Moore, principal of Ormiston Meadows Academy, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to pilot this programme and our pupils have thoroughly enjoyed participating. Modern Foreign Languages have always been a strength at our school, with all pupils receiving weekly tuition from our specialist language teacher Mrs Fiona Elliott.

“I would like to thank Jane Driver from Queen Katharine Academy for supporting our pupils.”

Pupils putting their skills to the test