On Friday 12th July, Adur Language Hub (in collaboration with our neighbour in the South East, Solent Language Hub) hosted a Teach Meet wherein trainers from AQA and Pearson Edexcel lead interactive sessions on the new exam specification. The sessions involved live-marking workshops, discussions about the new elements of the specification, and how best to grade students. We look forward to further collaboration with Solent Language Hub, as well as with AQA and Pearson Edexcel. We will be hosting more Teach Meets in the Autumn term.

This year is the first year that Year 7 have had the opportunity to learn Arabic; the six-week course was concluded with an Arabic tent activity. The Year 7 students got to experience a beautiful Arabic-designed tent, and they also learnt colours in Arabic and tried mint tea and Arabic biscuits . The tent was so popular that some Year 8 students popped in for some mint tea at lunch time. Lubna Nassr, our Arabic teacher, has successfully completed our first Arabic taster that we will be repeating next year.

Here is another update from our students in China! Monday 8 July Today we had a really early start at 7:30 as we were going to Guangzhou zoo. We met many animals including: pandas, giraffes and tigers. After that we travelled back to the university to have a delicious lunch. We then went to the library to have a talk from 2 UK professionals; it’s was so interesting to how their life progressed through learning Chinese and how they got to where they are today. We then had 2 Chinese lessons on history and cultural heritage. Then it was dinner at the canteen. After, we made Chinese water painting which turned out really nice. Finally it was off to bed . Written by Joe Tuesday 9th July Today on July 9th we woke up and got ready for the excitement that awaits us for the day. Firstly we had lessons about hobbies untill 12:10, when we headed downstairs to have a delicious lunch. Then, we went to our next cultural experience which was bamboo weaving where we made intricate models and arts. After, we had rehearsals for the closing presentation where we could either sing "Sweet Caroline" or "Try Everything". After, we had dinner in the university cafeteria before setting off on public transport to reach our final destination, which was a shopping mall with a variety of shops to explore and purchase from. This article was written by Jack.

Update number 3 from our Year 9 students in China! Saturday 6th of July “Most” of us woke up bright and early for breakfast in the canteen with some still tired ready for our 4 morning Chinese lessons. Then after a fulfilling lunch we headed off to the University helpers' shared presentations where they gave us an insight into Chinese culture surrounding, dining, etiquette, food and festivals. After that, we had dinner at the university canteen before we headed off to a lesson about Chinese felt art, where we attempted to make convincing felt pandas. Sunday 7th of July Despite tiredness amongst many of the students as they watched England’s game against Switzerland, we still headed off to our wonderful Guangzhou one-day city tour. During the tour we got a lovely understanding of Chinese architecture and visited the Nanyue Palace Museum where we learned about ancient artefacts and the history behind them. After this, we enjoyed a lovely table side lunch with scrumptious food; then we had some free time where we could go shopping and try some of the local food and McDonald’s for dinner. (Written by Obiani - Year 9)

Here is a nother update from our Year 9 students in China. Thursday 3rd day: We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel canteen. We then headed to the university to start our lessons, where we were taught how to say different foods in Chinese. After that we had delicious Dim sum and then got on the coach and headed to the Taikoo Wai Plaza, which was filled with luxurious shops and cafes. Our task was to ask questions to the workers about the products sold in the shops. After an hour of shopping and browsing we went back to have dinner. Everyone discussed what they had bought and had lots of fun; it seems no one is ready to back home yet! We then went to the classroom for our evening lesson, where we were taught the art of Chinese calligraphy. Friday 4th day: We had breakfast in the hotel canteen as usual, and then went to our morning lessons in Chinese. We had lunch in the university canteen. After that we got on the coach to Guangzhou Experimental Foreign Language School ( which had breathtaking grounds and views of the beautiful city ) where we had a tour of the huge campus. We were then taken to the classrooms where we played games, socialised with the students and tried traditional Chinese paper cutting. We took pictures and said goodbye before getting on the coach back to the university for dinner. After that we were taught how to perform Chinese martial arts. We then headed to the local shop and then back to the hotel to go to bed. (Written by Abbey and Kara - Year 9 students)

OUR YEAR 9 STUDENTS HAVE RECENTLY ARRIVED IN CHINA - here is their first update. All of us were extremely excited to get going to China, and after 3 hours at the airport we eventually got on the plane. Lots of us were quite nervous when we first boarded but quickly overcame it once we were high in the sky. We occupied ourselves on the 14 hour flight with talking, films, games and sleep. It was also a lovely thing for the air hostesses on the plane to provide the two birthday boys with cake - Ollie and Jack. When we arrived, we were all very tired and were greeted wonderfully by our China Trip hosts, with McDonald's and immediate access to rooms to relax and sleep. I think we were all pretty surprised by how amazing our rooms were. That night we also met a robot that delivered my (Evie's) food which we were all extremely excited to see. On July 3rd, our first official day of our China Trip, we attended an opening ceremony where Mr McKinney and I (Evan Dawson) represented Hove Park School by saying a few words on stage along with other schools and speeches from Chinese and British members of the Mandarin Excellence Programme operations who made this trip happen. After that, we enjoyed the day with lessons on Chinese speaking and Chinese singing. We had lunch and then participated in a treasure hunt around the campus which we all enjoyed as we got to see more around the campus. Finally, as for dinner, we were provided with a wonderful 'Welcome Dinner' in a lovely Chinese restaurant with delicious Chinese delicacies; roasted chicken, fried fish, tofu and a common Chinese dish of scrambled eggs and tomatoes. When we got back to the hotel we threw a little birthday party in the lobby for our other birthday boy - Darcy, which had cake that we definitely all needed. It was very hot all day but we all still managed to have so much fun. Huge thank you to Ms Qiao because we are all so happy to be here.  (Written by Evan Dawson and Evie Buss - Year 9 students)

On Tuesday, some of our Year 10 students attended a China Day at the University of Southampton as part of the Mandarin Excellence Programme.  The day consisted of creative workshops where we learned about Chinese culture and poetry , and sang songs in Mandarin. We also attended a talk about the value of languages and what it might be like to study them at university. It was a thoroughly educational and enjoyable day, and our students came away motivated and excited about continuing their educational journey. To top it all off, Hove Park School won third prize for a video project describing their hometown in Mandarin!

We are delighted to announce the launch of our brand new Belgian exchange partnership. On Monday 20th – Saturday 25th May, we hosted the inaugural visit of 12 Belgian students and their teachers. The students shadowed their Year 9 buddies to experience a typical day at our school. We also enjoyed some lovely sunny evenings together with meals out and visits to Brighton seafront, culminating in a Friday night Ghost Walk around The Lanes. The visit was a huge success and our students and families did so well in making our visitors feel welcome. Well done to all the students who took part for their efforts. By Saturday everyone was sad to wave goodbye at Brighton station, but we look forward to our reciprocal visit to Belgium in October and we know some lasting friendships have been made.

James Sandford, the director here at Adur Language Hub, is speaking at the Language World Conference in Kenilworth on 8th-9th March. He will be giving a presentation on "Daring to develop curiosity in language and culture in Year 7", exploring the advantages of studying a wide selection of languages in the form of a carrousel in Year 7.