Havering Newsletter

EAL – Celebrating language and culture at Hylands Primary School

Keeping children safe Many schools run exciting events focusing on the languages and cultures of children, parents and staff within and beyond the local community. These can lead to amazing outcomes in a range of areas: raised self-esteem; application of British values; understanding of other cultures; the development of broader perspectives; and links with a range of curriculum areas including geography, art, history, MFL, music, PE … and so the list goes on. Hylands Primary School have a long-running tradition of arranging such events. In July, they celebrated cultures across the world focusing on countries within Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. Highlights included every child in the school dining at a French bistro, complete with table cloths, flowers, music and even the Eiffel Tower in the background; being transported to a rainforest, complete with animals and instruments, for story time in the outside classroom; and a whole array of arts activities, food tasting, dance and music from all around the world. It is no mean feat co-ordinating interactive displays, costumes, food, workshops and parental involvement. Here are some top tips and reflections from the planning team at Hylands Primary: • Parents can be one of your very best resources so get them involved as soon as you can. • Budgets are important but lack of budget shouldn’t put you off. Whilst external providers can be costly, savings can be made elsewhere if you shop wisely. Bed sheets can be used as batik cloths with tea bags and coffee used as dyes; food items can be bought in bulk; and children can learn songs and dances from parents or videos.

• It can be useful to carry out an audit of places staff have been to or have a connection to – it’s amazing how many costumes, artefacts and instruments people have in storage including, in this case, didgeridoos for Australia day! • It is also useful to carry out a book audit – you will find that a number of your texts link to different countries and can be used at no additional cost. • With regard to food tasting and allergies, the planning team provided a complete list of ingredients for each item offered to the children. • Beneath all the fun, the core educational messages need to be clear – in each case, pupil engagement was enhanced by the fact that the children understood the stories behind each of the activities they engaged in with PowerPoint slides and links to resources/YouTube videos compiled by the planning team. If you have any questions about running a similar event at your school, Hylands Primary are happy to answer these – and if you have any events that you would like to share, including your celebrations for Black History Month, please get in touch with the Hsis EAL Team.

Michelle Wain HSIS Adviser - EAL & Safeguarding michelle.wain@havering.gov.uk 01708 431650 Carol Rockey HSIS Adviser - Safeguarding & EAL carol.rockey@havering.gov.uk 01708 431651

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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