St Peter’s College once again hosted the prestigious SAFTA/Alliance Française ‘Distribution des Prix’ in Memorial Hall on Wednesday 25 October.
SAFTA and the Alliance hold various competitions throughout the year and our students of French are encouraged to participate in these special activities.
The guest speaker on the night, French Professor Ben McCann, from Adelaide University, spoke of the importance and benefits of learning a second language, and how we can come to understand and appreciate other cultures through our learning of French. He talked of the positive effects on the brain and how it makes us smarter.
Our Junior and Middle School boys at SPSC are certainly well on the way to becoming smarter, which was evident in the many prizes gained in the various competitions and categories.
All Year 7 French students were given the opportunity to write a letter in French to the president of SAFTA, in the best Year 6/7 French Student Competition. Congratulations to Nigel Leung (Year 7) on winning this award in 2023.
The ‘Grand Concours de la Poésie Récitée’, the annual Poetry Reciting Competition had boys participating from Reception to Year 8.
Congratulations to Kenneth Jiao (Reception – 1st Prize Winner Reception Category), James Guo (Year 2 - Mention Très Bien Year 1/2 Category), Sonny Carter (Year 2 - Second Prize in the Year 1/2 category), Abraham Lee (Year 3 – Mention ‘Très Bien’ for Year 3-4 Category), Frederick Bouchard (Year 4 – 2nd Prize Winner of the Year 3-4 Category,) Ryan Li (1st Prize Winner Year 5/6 Category), Hugo Junin (Year 5 – ‘Prix du Jury’ for the Year 5/6 Bilingual Category), Amit Bhat, Nithil Praveen-Kumar and Navinder Takhar on winning the Year 7/8 Group category, and to Andrew Lucas, Phillip Makooh and Eddie Powell on winning the Prix de Jury, in the same category.
The winners of each category were asked to recite their poems on the night. Kenneth Jiao and Ryan Li delivered their poems confidently and with much expression.
‘Felicitations’, Congratulations to all the students who received awards, and also to the boys who consistently display enthusiasm for, and interest in, the French language and culture at St Peter’s College.
As the boys continue their studies in French, they will have many opportunities to show their flair and strength in learning French in State competitions such as, the Pétanque competition, the Year 8-10 Tik Tok competition, the Year 10-12 Alliance Fake News competition and the Year 9 French Quiz night.
Mme Irene Castrechini-Sutton and Mme Marcia McLachlan
on behalf of the French Faculty
