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News A Busy Week for Spanish Students 10.03.2023

There were two trips for Spanish students this week, with a delegation attending a debating competition at North London Collegiate School, and Sixth Form students visiting the Royal Academy of Arts to see the ‘Spain and the Hispanic World’ exhibition.

Spain and the Hispanic World Exhibition

This fascinating exhibition showcases the vast collection of treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, founded in 1904 by the American philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington. Spain and the Hispanic World spans the ancient world and Al-Andalus, through colonial Latin America to the beginning of the twentieth century. The collection reflects the Arabic and Jewish contributions to the Spanish world, featuring fourteenth century Islamic art and Muslim pottery as well as a fifteenth century Hebrew bible embellished with gold. Particularly fascinating were the sixteenth century nautical charts as well as beautiful items from the Acapulco-Manila trade route, explaining why Spanish is still spoken in the Philippines. Featuring works by Velázquez, Goya and El Greco as well as sculptures, textiles, ceramics and jewellery, our students were most drawn to the contrast between Zuloaga’s celebration of Spanish folklore and the luminescent works of Sorolla. The exhibition runs until 10 April and is highly recommended.

Spanish Debating Competition at North London Collegiate School  

We are immensely proud of Sophie and Giulia (two Sixth Form IB students) who competed in the Spanish Debating Competition at North London Collegiate School accompanied by Miss Coto Diaz who had trained them and also adjudicated on the night. Debating tough motions including whether the monarchy should be abolished, public toilets should be unisex and whether artificial intelligence causes more problems than solutions, our girls were just one point shy of making the semi-finals. The standard of spoken Spanish from all participating schools was phenomenal, while the enthusiasm and adrenaline was palpable, reminding us of the value of promoting our girls’ resilience in speaking and what they can gain from opportunities to share their passion for foreign languages.