In March, eight pupils travelled to The University of Cambridge to attend the finals of the “Mother Tongue, Other Tongue” Poetry Competition. This multilingual poetry competition celebrates cultural diversity and the many languages currently spoken in secondary schools across the United Kingdom. The group enjoyed an afternoon in Cambridge, exploring Colleges, visiting an art collection and attending a lecture from Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett about the perils of monolingualism. The group was also joined by Old Westcliffian Ethan King, a previous competition winner, who is now studying Modern and Medieval Languages at The University of Cambridge.

Westcliff High School for Boys had winners in four categories: Rhys, Year 8 (Other Tongue German Poem), Nathaniel, Year 10 (Mother Tongue Yoruba poem) and Rafi, Year 12 (Other Tongue French Poem and Mother Tongue Swiss German poem). We hope to attract more entries for next year’s competition. Congratulations to our winners and all those shortlisted on their outstanding achievements.

We are grateful to Mrs Williams for facilitating the entries and organising this fantastic visit.