A Northfield pupil has been called ‘inspirational’ after winning a prestigious award in an Oxford University competition.
Robyn Rodgers, a fifth year at Northfield Academy, was declared this year’s Scottish winner of the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators in level 2 French.
The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators is a competition inspired by the work of the translator Anthea Bell. It aims to promote language learning across the UK and to inspire creativity in the classroom.
Robyn used her language skills to translate a text from French into English, using a list of vocabulary provided and a bilingual dictionary.
The fifth year also had to make sure the English translation was not literal and made sense in English.
After her success, Robyn said: “I am super proud of getting this award as I’ve only done a National 5 in French. Thanks to my wonderful teachers for supporting me.”
Competition from across the country
Over 16,000 pupils across the UK took part in the creative translation competition, which was across four levels in five languages (French, Spanish, German, Italian and Mandarin), covering all year groups at secondary school from 11 to 18-years-old.
A team of 22 judges, including Oxford Modern Languages undergraduates and leading professional literary translators, assessed the competition entries.
Northfield Academy teacher Tatiana Messager said: “A huge congratulations to Robyn – the winner of the Level 2 Anthea Bell French Translation prize in Scotland.
“Robyn demonstrated what commitment, hard work and dedication can achieve and we are all enormously proud of her achievement.”
Northfield can be proud of Robyn
Councillor Jessica Mennie, vice-convener of the education and children’s services committee, said: “I’m sure Robyn’s classmates, teachers, and the wider school community in Northfield will be very proud of Robyn’s success.
“Robyn is a great example of what hard work, commitment and enthusiasm in school can achieve. I hope her success will inspire other young people.”
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