The entire year group took part in a Foreign Language Spelling Bee putting their French skills to the test in a national competition organised as a way of encouraging the studying of a second language.

All of the students were given 50 words to translate into French and then spell correctly for the first stage of the Bee.

For the second stage, three class stage winners had to add another 50 words to their list and were tested on their language skills at the end of February. 

Before the Easter break the regional stage will be held when three school stage winners will compete with students from other schools in the Eastern region of the national contest. The final stage will see three winners compete against each other for the title at the end of the summer term.

“It is not easy and our students worked very hard to learn the list of words needed for the class competition. We have been meeting lunchtimes to work on the school stage of the Bee and I’m really proud of the amount of dedication the students have shown,” said French teacher Mrs Stokes.

Another 50 words are added to the Bee list for every round of the contest - making a total of 200 for those making through to the final.

The Foreign Language Spelling Bee organised by Routes into Languages was created in 2009 as an East Anglian regional contest before it went national the following year. It offers competition in French, German or Spanish.