Sheffield
Multilingual City Project
Sheffield Multilingual
City
Bannerdale Teachers' Centre
Bannerdale Road
Sheffield S7 2DJ
Person in charge of project: Danielle Stone, Co-ordinator
Sheffield Multilingual City is an LEA initiative that encourages primary schools and early years centres to teach additional languages and supports community language schools. The city-wide project comprises many different elements – over fifty community language schools are supported as part of the initiative. In the primary schools, a range of languages are taught including Somali, Arabic, Urdu, French, Spanish, Italian and German. There is close liaison with both universities in the city and with Sheffield College. The project has its own research group and is this year offering action research training to teachers.
The aim of the project is to establish language learning in the Foundation years and through the primary phase, involving adults in both learning and delivery. The target group is the 3–11 age group, as well as adults. Four nursery centres and three primary schools receive specialist support in French and Spanish together with Urdu, German, Somali and Arabic. The four nursery centres teach a modern foreign language to all the children and to some parents. The adults involved are carers or parents and non-teaching staff. The primary schools teach a variety of languages in addition to the language taught by the specialist. Non-specialist staff are given language support and curriculum guidance. A primary languages base has been established in one of the schools, from which support and guidance is offered.
Judges' comments
This
is an outstanding example of a city embracing multilingualism and building
on the strengths and abilities of its population. Existing bilingualism
is promoted and strengthened, alongside a policy for language learning
in the monolingual community. The learning of European languages is thus
linked to community languages, in an initiative which reaches people of
all ages. This is an exercise in inclusiveness which makes an important
contribution to general linguistic and cultural education and to the life
of the city as a whole.
