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EDL at schoolHere you can find some examples of schools who have thought of exciting ways to celebrate the day. We hope that they will prove inspiring for when planning your own day. Examples of activities :
Parkroyal School, Cheshire: The school celebrated European Day of Languages with a non-uniform day and a flag theme- for both clothes and decorations. Many pupils at the school and their parents are of a variety of nationalities and parents were invited in to carry out various activities in their native languages. There was also a speaker from Denmark. Read more about European Language Day at Parkroyal School
Rosedale College, Middlesex: "On European Day of Languages there was a display in our foyer for everyone to appreciate (I even thought up a good catchphrase) and I organised special language lessons for the day too, with a special quiz homework; I also encouraged staff to meet and greet in another European language as well as write the dates in that way too. Finally, I did a special assembly the following Friday for KS3." Grace Academy, Coventry: The MFL Department organised a whole week of activities, including quizzes for both staff and students, a poster competition, decorating the school with flags, poster and maps from different countries, watching foreign language films and singing foreign language songs- some complete with dances!
Hele's School, Plymton: Year 8 pupils enjoyed a day of languages as part of European Day of Languages. Activities included language lessons and practical workshops. The day culminated in a 'Celebration of Languages' with each class putting on a show for fellow pupils, staff, friends and relatives to enjoy. Read more about celebtrations at Hele's School
Competitions, quizzes and tournaments Caterham School: "On the Tuesday itself, year 9 and 10 pupils were given an opportunity to represent their houses in the first ever “House Pétanque” competition, a bowls’ game originating from the South of France. They showed impressive skills for a game some of them had not even heard of before. Every one involved had fun...Meanwhile, year 7 and 8 pupils took part in an exciting 'Chasse au trésor' , a Treasure hunt around the school for which they had to follow clues in French." Upton Hall School, Wirral: "We used the CILT cartoon characters (professions and jobs) for a competition- Spot the Jobs around the building. The school also had a quiz about the origin of words such as "Where do the words cookie, nitwit and sleigh come from? Pinocchio is Italian for ....?" French breakfast hosted by staff and senior students
St Dunstan's College Junior School, London: "We have a French breakfast for our Junior School children. This annual event is much looked forward to and appreciated by the children. The format is simple. The school kitchen supplies 'du jus d'orange' and 'du chocolat chaud'. The children bring in a suitable 'bol'. I order the largest croissants and pains au chocolat from a local bakery and there is Nutella and strawberry jam. Their teachers wait on the children and each child is expected to say something in French. The older children find quite a lot to say as they enter into the spirit of the occasion." International food served in school canteen The Gregg School, Southampton: "We have tried two activities at our school for European Day of Languages. Firstly, for the past two years we have persuaded the kitchen staff to serve European-style dishes and I have produced a menu in the relevant languages. Where kitchen staff have had time, they have made the pupils ask for the meals in the foreign language. I hasten to add that we are a small school, which makes this a lot easier." St Angela's Ursuline Convent School, London: "The canteen do national dishes labelled with flags" European spread and food questionnaire in staffroom St Angela's Ursuline Convent School, London: "For the staff the MFL dept do a European spread. Staff have to do a little questionnaire about France/Germany and Spain for a laugh. We also get them to guess where the foods come from. We have found it is a great way of getting old and newly apppointed staff to meet up at the start of term so it kills 2 birds with one stone." Rainey Endowed School, Northern Ireland: "A special assembly was held where the vice principal Ms Jemma Davison welcomed the school’s language assistants from Anthony from France and Rafael from Spain in French, German and Spanish respectively. Anthony proceeded to read a poem in French and Rafael said the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish. A video was shown entitled ‘English is not enough’, highlighting the need to learn foreign languages in today’s increasingly multi-cultural society...canteen staff worked tirelessly to prepare a range of dishes representing Spain, Italy and France. Food such as croissants, paella, pizza and pasta were available, alongside tempting desserts such as profiteroles with cream. As the students munched happily, salsa music thronged in the background. "
Lympne CEP School, Kent: "The school held a sharing Assembly on European Day of Languages, involving song, dance and games. The language was mainly French, with a sprinkling of Spanish, German, Polish and Estonian. These last two were playground circle games taken from the excellent online music resource “Sing Up”. Children learnt a few colours in Spanish by singing the words, with colours held up. All the teaching staff joined in and a really good time was had by everyone. Key activities were filmed for posterity and the children are still asking for the songs and games in their lessons. We can’t wait to try more!"
Chase Community School, Enfield: To mark European Day of Languages this year, the MFL Faculty led the school assembly, with a presentation and the message "All can achieve with confidence and courage." Students and one teacher spoke in the assembly about their own experiences and achievements in a foreign language. All students were encouraged to greet each other in as many languages as they could throughout the day. The school's chef prepared a different European dish each day during the week leading up to EDL, and students produced foreign flags to decorate the diner." The Gregg School, Southampton: ".. one of our Year 10 classes did some research into statistics about some of the major European countries and produced a wall display for the corridor. They enjoyed producing the display and it gave an interesting focal point for pupils waiting outside the room at lesson changeover." St Angela's Ursuline Convent School, London: "As a number of our girls are from Nigeria/Ghana/the Phillipines among other places, we have invited year 7 to come to school in their own national dress or the national dress of a country they like. Last year someone came in bright red Edam Cheese Clogs! We do a fashion show and take photos which we use to welcome year 7 on the first parents evening. We get the local paper, in our case the Newham Recorder to come in and take the girls in costume." Read more about the fashion show.
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School, Buckinghamshire: "We recently celebrated the official launch of the teaching of Spanish at St. Thomas Aquinas so the whole day was Spanish-themed. We had invited parents and members of the community and it was a very busy day! It began with a whole-school assembly during which we held a videoconference with our twin school, Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente in Murcia. We introduced some of the older children to their pen pals and the Spanish children were able to teach us a simple song that the whole school sang."
Brierton Community School, Dyke House School, English Martyrs RC School & Sixth Form College and Manor College of Technology, Hartlepool: " On the morning of European Day of Languages a group of 15 took part in the Hartlepool European Challenge cup. Their task was to create an original song in French or German on the theme of the sea in 2 hours and perform it in front of a panel of judges. The resulting songs were amazing, using percussion and other instruments, props such as umbrellas and pizzas, and lots and lots of French. The proud winners were the Year 8 team from English Martyrs, who, after a welcome European-style lunch, went on to present their song to an audience of 600 as part of the afternoon’s primary celebration of European songs." Golden Flatts Primary School, Holy Trinity CE Primary, Sacred Heart RC Primary, Saint Aidan’s CE Memorial Primary School, Saint Cuthbert’s RC Primary School and West View Primary School, Hartlepool: "In the afternoon of European Day of Languages the primary schools took part in the final of the Hartlepool Singfest. Each group sang songs in 2 different languages including French, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Swahili and there were even 2 mixed language songs. Holy Trinity was declared the winner for their lively performance in French and Swahili." Various Primary Schools across Sheffield: "A celebratory event was held in Sheffield town centre to coincide with the European Day of Languages. Two performances were staged featuring 12 Primary Schools and nearly 300 pupils, in which pupils were able to display their appreciation of other languages and cultures through songs, dance and plays. French, Spanish, German, Farsi, Arabic and Somali were all represented on the day. Children returned to their schools with a ‘pain au chocolat’, a ‘passport’ containing information about countries in the European Union but also with a ringing endorsement from their peers and teachers for the fantastic language learning taking place in their schools."
For more suggestions, download a CILT schools activity sheet, with successful activities suggested by the schools that did them on the Day.
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Pupils from Parkroyal School learn show off their Chinese writing skills 
Students at Grace Academy dance to the Macarena 
Pupils putting on a show at Hele's School 
Pupils enjoy a French breakfast at St Dunstan's College Junior School 
International cuisine at Rainey Endowed School 
Pupils at Lympne CEP School dance the Polka des Bébés 
Sampling international cuisine 
Pupils put on a Spanish-themed show 
Pupils take to the stage in Sheffield
