Guests at Bishop Heber High School were greeted in five different
languages at the grand opening of the new language college on 19th
September 1997.
Bishop Heber High became one of only 47 specialist language
colleges in the country and only one of 2 in the Northwest in
September 1996. As part of the development, a high-tech language
centre was built with the aim to: "teach a greater variety of
languages at a higher standard, to more pupils".
For us the students this means 5 classrooms devoted to German,
French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese-Mandarin, plus an information
technology area, giving us access to the internet and various other
language learning programmes.
Funds for the language college were raised in a number of ways.
The government and the private sector each contributed £100,000
and the remainder was financed by fund-raising and parental
contributions. This included a scheme whereby pupils and guests
each bought a brick towards the construction of the centre.
Among the guests at the opening were; Mrs. N Bertalli (Italian
consulate), Mr. D Cracknell (director of education for Cheshire),
Councillor David Evans (Lord Mayor of Chester), the Mayor of
Monza, Italy and Mr. Lyndon Harrison (member of European
parliament). Also present was the Bishop of Chester who was quoted
saying, "ventures such as this, contribute to the peace we seek
throughout nations".
Next year should see the opening of a sixth section of the college,
featuring a satellite TV and video conferencing area, creating better
communication for students like ourselves throughout Europe!
By Jenny Brown and Louise Kilgannon
(BHHS)
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