We are delighted to announce that 9 new schools have joined the Language Friendly School Network since the beginning of summer 2023! The new schools that have joined us, diverse as their students, include schools for newcomers, international schools, public schools, catholic schools, and parish schools.
We extend our warmest welcome to the new certified Language Friendly Schools De Fontein (Breda, the Netherlands), Berlin Metropolitan School (Berlin, Germany), St. Mary’s and Resurrection CSS (Kitchener, ON, Canada), Trinity School (Jersey, UK), Christina Gordon Public School (Fort McMurray, Canada), International School Eindhoven (the Netherlands), Skovvangskolen (Aarhus, Denmark), and De Dorpsbeuk (Scherpenzeel, the Netherlands), together with their teams, students, and families.
What makes a school Language Friendly?
The newly certified Language Friendly Schools are doing some wonderful activities and projects that we are excited to share!
In our recent talk with Skovvangskolen, they shared that they are doing a library project to promote inclusivity, offering parents the opportunity to come to the library and pick a book together with their child, and offer guided readings in their mother tongue to the students.
St. Mary’s started some great initiatives. Upon entering the school, teachers, families, students, and visitors are greeted with a multilingual column wrap that says “hello” in all the languages spoken at the school (around 60-70 languages). Their Ambassadors Programs, initiated by students, welcomes new students with immigration experiences to connect with fellow students and shared language speakers.
Berlin Metropolitan School has a language friendly menu with different resources for students and teachers to use, including translation tools and audio speech to support the students’ learning. They include different languages for the assessment, worksheets, and resources in the class, and they also offer students after school language clubs for home languages.
Becoming a Language Friendly School
The Language Friendly School is an initiative to promote an intercultural and inclusive educational experience, encouraging students to embrace their multilingual background. Becoming a member of the Language Friendly School Network, it brings schools, teachers, and parents together, allowing for the sharing of ideas and activities to foster an inclusive and language-friendly learning environment.
The Language Friendly School is rapidly expanding its network. From 25 schools in 2022, there are now 37 certified Language Friendly Schools across the globe. This is a great step towards our journey to promote inclusivity and diversity in education!
Interested in knowing more about the Language Friendly School? Please visit our website https://languagefriendlyschool.org/ or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin!