We started this term with a whole school Languages Day, with pupils dressed in the colours of a flag or their choice of traditional clothes. A huge thank you to parents who came in to help, contributing mini language lessons, stories, poetry, music, food, crafts and dance. There was a joyful, party atmosphere, with all children participating in the Languages Treasure hunt for flags and answers to questions dotted around the school.
We are a multilingual school, with 22 languages amongst our children and families and it was wonderful to allow a space for expressing and celebrating this in school. The day began with an assembly, followed by language and culture workshops organised by teachers and TAs in Greek, Mandarin, BSL, French, Spanish and the children's languages. Year 4 children prepared presentations, which they gave in class and have uploaded on to the class pages of the website.
Some of the contributions by parents who came in to school included German lanterns, Slovak and Bulgarian lessons, an Italian nursery rhyme, Sri Lankan dance, Polish food, sushi and Spanish poetry. There were more! We enjoyed welcoming the visitors in school, all of the activities and also making linguistic connections with the children's lives at home. Many children took the opportunity to give a language lesson, as well as making sound button recordings and video clips. Year 6 children helped organise the treasure hunt, taking responsibility for groups of younger children around the school.