Students and staff have been celebrating being Cumbrian with a day of fun activities looking at the Cumbrian accent and dialect.
Students spent the morning researching features of the Cumbrian accent Vs Standard English before writing and performing their own Cumbrian raps. Video messages were recorded for the students by academy staff with the reasons why they are proud to be Cumbrian.
The students also spent time creating their own Cumbrian dictionaries and acting out role play scenarios of varying formalities practising switching between standard and non-standard English.
In the afternoon the academy welcomed Jeff Thorpe in to talk about the role being Cumbrian and speaking with an accent has played in his success as a footballer and now as a lecturer at the University of Cumbria.
Proud to be Cumbrian Day was hosted by the academy’s English department to not only celebrate the Cumbrian accent and dialect but to equip students with the skills to switch to Standard English in the right context.
English teacher Carly Macleod organised the event, she said: “Last year’s Proud to be Cumbrian Day was a huge success with our pupils spending the day appreciating the local accent and dialect, realising that it is a valid form of language in appropriate situations. Pupils also learnt the importance of switching to Standard English in more formal contexts. As well as this, pupils heard from successful Cumbrians in order to inspire them and show them that your postcode shouldn’t affect your chances of success in life. We ran the day again this year as we believe it is important to celebrate who we are. We want our pupils to be confident in themselves, aim high and realise that the way you pronounce ‘path’ shouldn’t determine yours!”