Story: Smaira Sadique
The pupils of Byron Wood Primary School have been using a new approach to language learning with the help of a £10,000 grant from The Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Caroline Norman from Languages Sheffield and Smaira Sadique from Byron Wood have been working together to trial the Languages Futures approach with primary aged students for the first time since it was developed at Linton Village College in Cambridgeshire.
The approach typically engages students by enabling them to select a language that is meaningful to them, equipping them with the skills and motivation to manage their own learning process.
Children from Byron Wood expressed interest in learning Somali, Arabic, Urdu, French and Mandarin Chinese at after school language clubs. As well as specific language clubs the school is offering two after school play clubs that incorporate students’ own mother tongue. As part of the project, Byron Wood is supporting community language schools to deliver good quality language provision for young mother tongue learners.
In the spring term we will be sharing our experiences and achievements with other schools in Sheffield.
For more information contact smaira.sadique@byronwood.sheffield.sch.uk or