On Monday 15th January one of our Year 13 students Lois, delivered an insightful talk to Year 5 students at our brother school, QEGS focussing on the topic of migration, which they are currently studying. 

Read on as Lois shares some details of her public-speaking pursuits:

I moved to the UK and joined Wakefield Girls High School in September 2021 for my A-Levels, however I previously lived in Gibraltar for 8 years. I had the privilege of telling the Year 5 students in QEGS about my experiences while living in Gibraltar, and the differences in culture between the two places, to help them learn about the migration of places overseas.

I was able to talk about the llanito dialect of Gibraltar, which is a mixture of Spanish and English, and the wild Barbary macaques – which are the only wild macaques in the whole of Europe! I also explained the foods that Gibraltar has – which is heavily influenced by Moroccan, Spanish, English and Jewish food. For example, I showed them Calentitas and Rolitos, which are famous Gibraltarian foods. 

Students were surprised  by how small Gibraltar is, as it is only 5km long and 1.2km wide! The Gibraltar rock takes up 40% of the Overseas Territory, and it takes longer to walk up and down the 1,400ft rock than it does to walk around the entirety of Gibraltar !

The students also learnt about historical holidays in Gibraltar, such as Gibraltar National Day – which is when all Gibraltarians dress up in our flag colours, red and white, to celebrate the independence of Gibraltar from Spain which ended the war between England and Spain back in 1967. It was the day that Gibraltar officially became a British Overseas territory, and shows the determination of Gibraltarians to decide its own future and protect its unique identity.

The students were able to ask questions about Gibraltar, and learn more about the cultural differences between the UK and Gibraltar. They were especially interested in the Barbary macaques, and were intrigued by how they acted towards the people of Gibraltar, and tourists. I was able to tell them funny stories about the monkeys taking bags and food from people, which they were fascinated by. 

The QEGS students will now be researching Gibraltar in their migration lessons, and learn more about the movement of people overseas! 

Lois,

Year 13 student and Head of Clayton House