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UOW Languages Day 2024

On Friday 23 February, our six Senior French Students attended the University of Wollongong's Languages Day! 

It began with an introduction in the seminar room and numerous university student talks about tips and experiences on studying their language. It was very insightful and helpful.

After, we had a quick break and got to making our skits. We all picked an object which we then prepared to advertise in French. Our group consisted of Claire, Millie W and Erik K who made an advertisement about Rexona deodorant, whilst the other NCS group, Millie M, Hamish and Darcy, made one about shampoo. There were also advertisements for bottled mineral water, chocolate freckles, and popcorn from the other schools. Our ad had Erik and Millie playing catch, and then Claire came along and catching a whiff of Erik’s bad smell. She told Millie that Erik smelt so bad (“Il pue, le garçon”), so Millie proceeded to whip out the Rexona deodorant and throw it to Erik. Then Millie and Claire ran towards Erik saying “C’est genial”, finishing our slogan. After performing in the small classroom, our skit and the popcorn skit were voted to be presented in front of the proper lecture hall. In the lecture hall, we saw the voted performances from the other French group and Japanese groups.

After our lunch break, the students returned to the lecture hall. The nominated student groups then did ‘ad battles’ against each group, which consisted of performing their skit and competing for first place. After this there was one more talk on ‘learning a language.’ This talk was very informative, much thanks to Max Beddoe, and our students came away feeling mostly confident in figuring out their perusal with French after school. After much anticipation and judgement, the winners of the ad skits were proclaimed. It was Claire, Millie W and Erik, with the ‘Rexona’ ad! Prizes were given and photos were taken, as our NCS students came away glorious. An encore of the act was then pleaded for, and was fulfilled.

Overall, our NCS students had enjoyed a big day out. Our day was filled with fun, as we met students who were learning French just like us and gained helpful info about how to learn a language best. A big thank you to Mme Wilkinson for having planned such an awesome day out. Also thanks to Monsieur Drury for getting us there and back!

-Written By C’est Rexona!! Aka Millie W, Erik K and Claire H

Three Weeks of Kindergarten

Can you believe that Kindergarten has been at school for only three weeks? They have settled in so well, learning a lot about school. So far, they have been learning letters and numbers. They have also been visiting other classrooms and meeting Year 6 buddies. Well done Kindergarten!

La Chandeleur 2024

Once again, Year 8 have enjoyed cooking crepes to celebrate the French tradition of 'La Chandeleur'. Here is some information that they discovered about this feast:

La Chandeleur is a day where the French make and eat crepes. Crepes are like small thin pancakes. La Chandeleur is always celebrated on the 2nd of February, 40 days after Christmas to signify when Jesus was presented in the temple. In English, La Chandeleur is known as Candlemass. (Levi)

It is celebrated because it was the day Jesus was presented at the temple, 40 days after Christmas. (Grace and Asha)

On the 2nd of February a holiday and tradition is celebrated and is called La Chandeleur or Candelmas in English. It marks the end of the Christmas period coming exactly 40 days after Christmas Eve. It is a Catholic holiday and also marks the return of light, a symbol of protection and prosperity. Also known as pancake day, La Chandeleur is celebrated nationwide! (Will B) 

The word ‘chandeleur’ comes from the candles (chandelle) they were blessed with and left alight to signify, purity and keep harm away. It is celebrated because it signifies the day that Jesus was presented at the temple. I've also read that the tradition goes back even further to pagan times where the celebration was a tribute to light and days becoming longer. The crepes are a symbol of the sun and returning to light and having longer days of sunlight. (Asher)

The making and eating of crepes celebrates La Chandeleur and the crepes are easy to make with minimum ingredients which makes it so nearly everyone no matter the financial situation could join in. The crepes also represent the sun and the ending of winter (in Europe) because they are circles and look like the sun.  (Jude)

I hope they cooked their parents some crepes after this activity! :)