On Thursday 26th September 2024, Birley Primary Academy celebrated European Day of Languages. The European Day of Languages is a celebration of the amazing number and variety of languages spoken across Europe. This year the theme was Languages for Peace. Typically, educational settings mark the event every year with a European Day of Language to promote language learning and to celebrate the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe. This was no different at Birley Primary Academy, where we decided to celebrate the day through a number of fantastic events and experiences outlined below.
Firstly, we welcomed parents and careers across the academy into our classrooms at 9am so that they could experience and share a part of the day’s learning experience with their child. We promoted the idea that although we may speak different languages, language education plays a key role in promoting a culture of peace, living together and democracy. Parents and children worked together to decorate a jigsaw piece with different flags and key phrases from a language of their choice. We then joined them together.
Later in the day, a number of different European countries contributed to a specially crafted European Day of Languages menu. There was a range of different main meal options including a taste of France with Chicken Chasseur, an Italian inspired Tomato Pasta, a Spanish themed Vegetable Paella or a Greek Gyros. This was followed by a gorgeous Gelato for dessert. It was a sea of colours in our dining room as children were wearing non-uniform that made up the colours of a European country of their choice.
A real highlight of the day was when our children in Year 5 and 6 came together with other Sheffield L.E.A.D. Academies to take part in a live French lesson led by a specialist languages teacher from The Birley Academy – our catchment secondary school. This was all made possible using our innovation platform.
The day concluded with children exploring different songs and stories in different European languages as well as being provided with a range of fun activities, such as word-searches, to complete the fun-filled day at Birley.
After school, our older children were then invited to attend a culture event at The Birley Academy where they were given the opportunity to:
