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Vive les langues étrangères On a recent visit to AGSB, ex-student Oliver Carroll (2012) discussed the impact of A level languages at University, in the work place and in improving career prospects. “I was never one to buy into the adage that ‘you don’t need languages, everyone speaks English’. But it didn’t cross my mind how useful having languages on my CV would be. I studied French to A Level and then a Law degree, and within the first week of my internship at Clifford Chance, the ‘magic circle’ law firm with whom I’m about to start my training, a partner asked me to compile a presentation in French for her to present to the board of BNP Paribas – France’s biggest bank. I was seconded to the Amsterdam office of the firm for two weeks, where I was tasked with helping on an English case in an international court in Strasbourg. Again, most of the documents and case law were in French. Despite not having studied Spanish past GCSE, a Latin American litigator asked me to review a dossier of Cuban witness statements – all in Spanish. I asked myself why they assumed such language knowledge, but after talking to my fellow interns – many of whom are now my colleagues at the firm – it became clear that a majority of them had languages on their CV to one degree or another. Spanish Trip To Salou Hola! During activities week last year, a group of pupils in Year 8 flew off to Spain to try the food, speak the language and most of all to have fun! In total, we spent three action packed days in Barcelona to get a taste of the culture. Thursday was the most exciting day - we went to Port Aventura Theme park, home to Europe’s tallest rollercoaster, the ‘Shambhala’! The rides were scary yet thrilling and everyone had a blast! Our ‘touristy day’ consisted of a trip to Park Güell and the Sagrada Família, tapas on ‘Las Ramblas’ and finally the most memorable part of the day which was a trip to Camp Nou. Here we took some fantastic photos from the top of the stadium looking down on the amazing pitch and we even had the chance to buy a Barcelona jersey! We stayed in Salou which had a beautiful beach and we all enjoyed going swimming every night! Thanks must go to Mrs Wallwork for organising the trip as well as Mrs Hagerty, Mr Cammack and Mr Williams for helping to lead it. I would definitely recommend it to any Year 8 linguist this year. Matthew Buchalter In the modern business world, and now at the top of the legal profession, it quite literally pays to have languages. Yes, many in the rest of the world speak some English. But they also have mother tongues. So if you don’t want to be out-competed by them, then pull your finger out, and learn a language. You just never know what doors it will open.” Oliver Carroll Agsb’s cleanest room Mr Lowe was awarded a gift of “Heroes” chocolates at the end of the summer for having (yet again and again and again, to the pleasure of the cleaner) the cleanest, tidiest classroom in the school for the seventh consecutive year. What a hero! Lydia Williams Cleaning Supervisor
ACTIVITIES week TRIP TO GERMANY 2015 We went to Germany during Activities Week and I can honestly say it was the best trip I have ever been on! Mrs Donelan, Mr Shorten, Miss Cathcart and Mr Flanagan made it a fun and exciting trip for us all. We set off on the Saturday night for a coach journey that would take us through France and Belgium to Boppard. Luckily the coach was extremely comfortable and we could watch films of our choice. We set off for our second leg of the trip, by the time we got to Germany everyone was excited to see the hotel. The Hotel Rheinlust was a lovely old building situated on the river Rhein. The town of Boppard had cafes and shops as well as plenty of river cruises to offer us. There was also a nice buffet breakfast each morning and a tasty lunch and evening meal. We took part in many activities whilst we were there including bowling and visiting the town of Koblenz, the point on the river Rhein where three rivers meet. My favourite day of the trip however had to be when we went to Phantasialand. It was the best theme park I have ever been to. It also had its own village for buying sweets and food. Mrs Donelan and Mr Shorten told us to meet up in Berlin at lunchtime. We remembered Unter den Linden and the waffle café! We then set off to explore. Black Mamba was the main ride - it did two loop de loops and went upside down. It gave me the best adrenaline rush I have experienced!! Next there was a huge log flume with an almost vertical drop with the splash of a life time at the bottom. After that my group each got a slush and went on the water rides. The previous day we had been to a medieval castle. This castle was the only one to survive many wars. We learned about its rich history and were able to try on armour and shields. We got Mr Flanagan to put on a heavy helmet whilst everyone took photos! We also went to Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum - a music museum where they showed us many German instruments from years ago, all in working order. There was a brass band from 300 years ago still a glistening bronze colour. The village of Rudesheim was perfect for tourists. We had travelled by chairlift above it before visiting the museum. The views had been very impressive. German exchange 2015 It was a regular Manchester morning when we readied for our little trip - a motley crew of Wellington and AGSB, headed by the erstwhile Mr Smith towards Stuttgart, for our part in the German Exchange. We arrived on time, which does say something for the renowned German efficiency, and were whisked away to our respective partner’s houses where we were let loose upon the streets of Fellbach and Stuttgart. Alas, the time for fun was over, and at 8am we started a week in the German education system at Friedrich-Schiller Gymnasium, notably different from the more rigid English system, with the children having days of varying length, but the vast majority only lasting around four or five hours, something that went down very well with the English arrivals! Trips included the ZentrumfürKunst und Medientechnologie (Centre for Art and Media Technology, or ZKM) in Karlsruhe. We viewed a series of enigmatic and eye opening displays about the world around us, causing us to stop and think about the heaps of technology we ply ourselves with, in the vain hope of bettering ourselves. Followed by a terrifying look at security and all that this encompasses including the sheer amount of surveillance governments utilise to censor and monitor our every waking moment, and often when we’re not awake too; Orwell would be turning in his grave. A machine accurately told four of us where we’d been in the last 24 hours, what Wi-Fi we’d ever used and the make of our phones without us ever having to pull them out of our pocket, we were rather eager to leave before the museum found out our entire life story! The next day we headed to the Porsche Museum for an interesting look at one of the world’s most renowned car makers. Finally a brief detour into Stuttgart for some last minute gift shopping and to see a regular day in a major German city. There was an air of melancholy as we realised this was our last day in Germany with sad looks on our faces, we bade farewell to our host families, and prepared to say a final auf wiedersehn to all the friends we’d made at FSG before boarding the train for home. Nanda Saravanan In the evenings Mr Flanagan amused us all by running a quiz situated in Die Kanne, which was a room in the hotel just used by our party. The weather was beautiful and warm the whole trip. Lynn Donelyn and Luke Collins
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