At Reach Academy Feltham, three pupils have been highly commended by the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators. They submitted a total of nineteen translations in four different languages to the Prize and of those, four received commendations.
Commendations for Translation Skills
Danyal Kazmi (17) received two high commendations for Mandarin and Spanish, Alice Valcheva (12) was highly commended for Russian, while Rawan Adam (17) was highly commended for French.
More than 25 thousand young people took part in this national competition recognising creative translation. It is open to pupils aged 11-18 at schools across the UK and is run by the University of Oxford’s Queen’s College. The prize is named after Anthea Bell OBE (1936–2018) who is considered one of the leading literary translators of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Head of Languages at Reach Academy Feltham, Chloe Sides said:
“I am incredibly proud of all of our linguists who took part in the Anthea Bell Translation Prize and want to congratulate Danyal, Rawan and Alice who have been awarded a commendation in such a highly respected competition. What an achievement! At Reach, we truly value languages, ensuring that all of our pupils are able to sit a GCSE in at least one language (with many choosing to do two or even three). Our students know that the skills and knowledge developed through language study will lead to a life of choice and opportunity which is why we are so pleased to run A-level language study through the Languages For All programme.”
Youngest A* ever in Sanskrit?
Meanwhile, Lakshmi from Reach Academy Hanworth Park has been honoured by the Indian High Commission in London for receiving an A* in Sanskrit iGCSE aged just thirteen. Lakshmi has been learning the subject in her own time over the past three years and had to teach herself the script before learning to understand the language.
Lakshmi, her parents and Co-headteacher Louis Everett travelled to meet the High Commissioner and be congratulated. She has also received a Certificate of Appreciation by the High Commission of India in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
Lakshmi’s parents said:
‘We are incredibly proud of our daughter for receiving this wonderful recognition. To see our daughter connect so well with Sanskrit, and achieve this level of knowledge at such an early age is extraordinary.”
Co-headteacher Louis Everett said:
“What Lakshmi has achieved is extraordinary. Sanskrit is an incredibly complex and difficult language to learn. To achieve the very top grade is a phenomenal feat in itself but Lakshmi has achieved this whilst continuing to perform strongly in all her academic subjects and engaging in a range of creative arts and sporting enrichment.”
