Passion for Portuguese wins award

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Two local sixth formers scoop national prize

Sixth form students Daniella Costa, 16, and Vania Rodrigues, 17, have been named among the UK's 15 best students of the Portuguese language - winning them a joint award worth £500.

They each received certificates and £250 to share as well as £250 to support the teaching of Portuguese at their sixth form - the William Morris Academy 16-19 school, in St Dunstan's Road, Hammersmith.

The King's College and Gulbenkian Prize for Portuguese, now in its third year, is awarded by the department of Portuguese and Brazilian studies at London's King's College university and the UK branch of the Gulbenkian Foundation charitable trust.
The aim is to encourage the teaching and learning of Portuguese in UK schools and colleges.

Vania's older sister Catia, a former student of William Morris Academy, is a previous winner of the award. Both Vania and Daniella, who come from Portuguese families and are native speakers, are currently taking their A-level exams in the language after just one year of study.

Daniella, a former pupil of Fulham Cross School, said: "My family is Portuguese so I wanted to learn more about the language. I have taken one part of the A-level exam and I think it went OK. The second part is on 30 June."

Daniella is studying additional A-levels in psychology, French and English at the William Morris Academy and Vania, also an ex-Fulham Cross pupil, is studying additional A-levels in psychology and sociology at WMA. Both will take two years over their other courses.

The two students were presented with their certificates and a cheque at the William Morris Academy by Professor Malyn Newitt, from King's College's department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.
Professor Newitt said: "Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language in the world and far too few UK schools and colleges teach it. The award scheme, which is in its third year, aims to stimulate the introduction of Portuguese into the curriculum."

Liz Walton, principal of the William Morris Academy, said: "Learning a language can change your life by opening doors to new cultures and friendships. It is important that we do everything we can to encourage students to learn a new language or study their own in greater depth."

Cllr Melanie Smallman, cabinet member for education, said: "The quality and range of modern foreign languages on offer at the William Morris Academy is one of its major strengths. The academy teaches six modern foreign languages at A-level and encourages students who are native speakers in languages other than English to take GCSE, AS or A-levels to develop their skills. I am delighted that these students and the academy are benefiting from this extremely worthwhile award to promote the teaching and learning of Portuguese, which is too often overlooked by schools and colleges nationally. Congratulations to both of the students for winning it."

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is supporting the teaching of foreign languages in primary schools through a government-funded programme called the Languages Pathfinders project. The programme has been running for two years in six local primary schools and a further eight have now joined the scheme. Pupils at the participating schools are studying languages ranging from French, German and Spanish to Italian and Japanese.

The William Morris Academy's last Ofsted report praised the modern languages department, which began with just one language at A-level 11 years ago and now offers six modern foreign languages at AS and A-level as well as five at GCSE. The academy also offers Persian as an extra-curricular subject at A-level, AS-level and GCSE.

June 20, 2005