This past September and October, Multilingual children resumed their Language groups. One of the Friday sessions was dedicated to work using modelling clay. Few things appeal more to children than art and mud! Animals, plants and planets were created by enthusiastic children who kept chatting and smiling throughout the entire afternoon. These moments of informal learning are crucial for the confidence of children who have an additional language. In smaller groups, those who might be shy or reluctant to speak flourish and express themselves happily among their peers.
We recently hosted a Thank You party dedicated to our Young Translators who have worked tirelessly and shown kindness in assisting our multilingual children. They enjoyed decorating (and eating!) cupcakes, playing board games, musical statues and creating lasting memories. We deeply appreciate their hard work and dedication in fostering communication and understanding among our diverse school children. The party served as a small token of our gratitude for their exceptional efforts, and we are fortunate to have such thoughtful and committed children as part of our team.
Thank you, Young Translators, for helping children to improve their English and feel more confident in our multilingual school!
We have completed our second English course for Parents. The sessions ran from January to May after school and parents had the opportunity to bring their children along, who joined a games club while parents were in class.
Parents developed their confidence and communication in English. They learned through speaking, vocabulary and grammar activities and also by playing games, where interaction was key for improving communication and social skills.
This month we had two groups of children visiting the local area and the shops.
After a few sessions on building vocabulary around buildings, shops and shopping, products and packaging and services that we can use in our local area, Mrs Teixeira, Ms Drilea and Ms Sharif took two groups of children on a walk along our high street.
The children named all the local shops, posted a letter and had a chat with the manager at the post office, shopped in a local supermarket where language and communication skills were used to ask and pay for snacks. They learned in real context and had various opportunities for spoken interactions with different people, with conversations scaffolded by the teachers.
Before returning to school, everyone enjoyed the snacks we had bought and a well deserved playtime in the local park.
Questions about foods and culinary tools arise sometimes in our Language Groups. As chips are a favourite among children, we decided to learn all about this.
We sorted and named all the ingredients and tools needed to prepare potato chips and then experienced the whole process of preparing them. In the end, children wrote and took home the recipe used.
The result was a scrumptious experience that not only developed the children’s range of vocabulary and communication but also the understanding of our Curwen Core Skills teamwork; innovation; communication and leadership, skills that can be taken into adult life.
This month we had a lovely session with our KS2 Language group: painting bookmarks using watercolours. For some, this was their first time using watercolours or mixing basic colours, so it was an afternoon packed with curiosity, excitement and learning. And we all end up our sessions richer in English language and experiences!
This December we have completed our first English course for Parents of this school year. The sessions ran from October to December after school and parents had the opportunity to bring their children along, who joined a games club while parents were in class.
These classes were developed to improve parents’ confidence and communication. English was taught at an elementary and practical level, focusing on speaking, vocabulary and grammar activities and also on games to enable parents to be more confident in their day to day communication.
A new course starts in January, please email our school office about English for Parents if you are interested.
Children were all hands on during our Friday afternoons Language groups. In December, after playing a game of Avocado Smash, we decided to make our own guacamole and have a real preparation and tasting experience instead of simply reading a recipe or looking into pictures of unknown ingredients. And it turned out to be really fun and delicious!
Children have been joining weekly Forest School groups which aim to explore cultural values and encourage pronunciation and literacy skills through nursery rhymes, traditional songs and stories and also to improve confidence using language through practice and memorisation of lyrics and familiarisation with traditional music.
They have made fires from scratch, named all necessary tools and materials, talked about fire safety, sat around the fire while having hot chocolate, listened to stories and sang along nursery rhymes, introduced themselves and so much more. Forest School not only develops children’s confidence, self-esteem, creativity and independence, it also enables risk taking and exploration skills. These have been incredibly enriching experiences for our EAL groups.
We have a new group of Young Translators who work with children who speak different languages. The Young Translators have read and played language games with children who have additional languages at lunch time to enrich their language and promote their confidence since the beginning of the school year.
