The Primary Bee is a national competition that challenges Year 5 and 6 pupils’ language skills. Pupils must translate as many words and phrases as they can into either French, Spanish or German, and are evaluated on their pronunciation as well as the number of words they can translate in a minute.

At Gladstone Primary Academy, the Primary Bee is so popular that the school held a mini-contest in school to select contenders for the national championship. Six pupils were chosen to compete at national level with 700 entrants from around the country. Fatima and Kadija, both in Year 5, went on to win an impressive first and second place.

Carlota Camara, Subject Development Lead for Spanish and Spanish teacher at Gladstone Primary Academy, said: “I am so proud of all the pupils who entered and worked so hard for this competition, they represented our Academy brilliantly. Fatima and Kadija did exceptionally well with the speed of their translations and their amazing pronunciation, and were so excited to win first and second places. We are delighted for them.

“All of the children enjoyed competing and it was wonderful to see them practising hard in class and at breaktimes, helping each other and sharing their knowledge. This is the second year the competition has run and the second year that Gladstone Primary Academy has won too which is a fantastic result for everyone.”

Simon Martin, Headteacher at Gladstone Primary Academy, said: “It was fantastic to see the pupils’ enthusiasm and energy for this national competition, which this year took place virtually. They practised hard and were very brave to compete.

“We place a great value on learning languages at Gladstone Primary Academy as they are an important skill that the children can take into their future lives. The children really enjoy learning languages and entering competitions such as the Primary Bee instils a sense of pride in the pupils for their school. To achieve first and second place for the second year running is an immense achievement - well done to the pupils and their teachers for working so hard and thank you to the parents for their support.”

To find out more about Gladstone Primary Academy, please visit www.gpa.education