Language of the Month: A Celebration of Languages

Language of the Month is a Primary initiative started by our previous Head of Primary EAL, Mrs Vigo, and since its inception, it has continued to grow and evolve. This term, we have been fortunate to have the input of a group of enthusiastic Year 13 CAS students who have been creating display materials and classroom resources, as well as flexing their own linguistic repertoires reading with some of our Primary students.

CAS students sharing The Little Mermaid in French and English with 1SHO

Why do we have the  Language of the Month?

The Language of the Month is a platform used to celebrate the linguistic diversity of our St Julian’s School population and also serves as a means of using the language repertoires of our students and staff to enhance learning.

It brings with it a number of other positives in that it:

• provides opportunities for our multilingual children to demonstrate the language skills they bring to school.  
• raises the status and profile of being bilingual.
• broadens the horizons of monolingual English­ speakers
• is fun to learn about other languages
• allows us to learn and develop respect for other languages and cultures 

Dr Dina Mehmedbegovic-Smith, Associate Professor at UCL/European Commission expert on multilingualism, recently spent a week at St Julian’s working with parents, students, and staff and promoting and sharing her knowledge about the benefits of being bilingual. Language of the Month looks to further promote these values and beliefs throughout the school year in the Primary classrooms.

Across the world, there are approximately 6,500 languages. This month, we are celebrating Mandarin. We warmly welcome any involvement from parents and families and encourage them to get involved, however big or small the contribution. If you would like to be involved in some way this month, e.g. reading with the children in school in Mandarin, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Jane Scott and Philippa d’Orey
Primary EAL