We are delighted to announce that the 2024 Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages has broken our previous 3 years of participation figures. We have had more children and young people getting involved through schools, community schools and groups than ever before. We are grateful to all those who took part (and do remember to complete our survey by 30th April, your feedback is invaluable to us).
The Festival celebrates diverse languages and cultures and our connections to the world by providing engaging and inspiring events, activities and resources for schools. We are the only regional Festival of Languages in the UK. It is made possible by our many partners who deliver events and activities and provide resources free of charge and thanks to our Steering Group who volunteer time and expertise to develop and co-ordinate the Festival.
The Festival’s aims and objectives are to:
- promote the value of languages and language learning for children and young people as global citizens
- increase cultural awareness, nurture curiosity and inspire children to take up and progress with language learning and embrace cultural and linguistic diversity
- broaden horizons and widen opportunities for their education and career choices and their future lives in an increasingly interconnected world
- build connections between schools and universities and local, regional and national organisations who support languages and intercultural awareness.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Declan Baharini (International Newcastle), who hosted and co-ordinated the Festival for the fourth year running and to the rest of our Steering Group who developed and ran events and activities, liaised with partners and engaged schools: Sarah Edgar (Newcastle City Council – School Effectiveness), Brian Stobie (Durham County Council – International), Steven Fawkes (Association of Language Learning), Crista Hazell (Education Consultant) and Samad Syed Ali (teacher and Bangladeshi Community representative).
We are grateful to all our local, regional, national and international partners who have supported the Festival this year and provided such an incredible range of events, activities and resources:
