We were delighted to present our partnership work and achievements on Newcastle City of Languages and Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages in April with three children and the Deputy Head Teacher from St Paul’s CofE Primary School attending.
The event on 29th April at the House of Lords was an opportunity for MPs and Peers to meet people from across the UK who run city and city-region based languages activities, which celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and boost languages education and international experiences in schools and communities. Newcastle and the North East featured alongside Coventry City of Languages, Portsmouth City of Languages and Multilingual Manchester.
These Cities of Languages agreed to continue to meet to build relationships, share good practice and identify areas of policy which would support these initiatives across the UK.
Declan Baharini (Festival Co-ordinator and Chief Executive Officer of International Newcastle) and Sarah Edgar (Newcastle City Council School Effectiveness and Festival Steering Group member) presented to the APPG, which was co-chaired by Baroness Coussins and Dame Nia Griffith MP.
Newcastle MPs Chi Onwurah and Catherine McKinnell attended and provided their support, as well as meeting the representatives from St Paul’s and giving them a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Deputy Head Teacher Bryn Taylor accompanied pupils Summer, Saffa and Grace to the House of Lords and Baroness Coussins presented the children with certificates.
Summer, Grace and Saffa from St Paul’s CofE Primary meet Chi Onwurah MP and Catherine McKinnell MP at the House of Lords.
Summer, Grace and Saffa with Catherine McKinnell MP exploring the Houses of Parliament and getting a certificate each from Baroness Coussins.
Declan and Sarah profiled the strong partnership approach and schools’ involvement, which has made Newcastle City of Languages and interlinked work on international links and intercultural awareness such a success (see Empowering Newcastle’s Youth for a Global Future). They also shared the outcomes and impact of Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages, which was developed by Newcastle City of Languages partners and benefits schools across the whole region. Our fourth annual Festival was bigger than ever, with 40 partners delivering free activities to 419 schools and 37,633 children and young people.
We’ve been developing Newcastle City of Languages for five years and running the Festival for four years, so it was a real privilege to share our learning and impact with the APPG on Modern Languages with other UK cities.
Language skills, international experiences and intercultural awareness are essential for the future of the UK and for the future lives, education and career opportunities of children and young people in a globalised society.
Declan Baharini
Schools really appreciate the opportunity to introduce curriculum enriching activities.
Our Newcastle City of Languages partnership provides training, support and opportunities for teachers all year round.
The Festival provides schools with fun, engaging and inspiring experiences for schools and pupils from January to March each year and builds their passion for learning more.
Sarah Edgar
As well as presenting our work, we highlighted Newcastle’s active goals and the challenges and opportunities in Newcastle. We also made suggestions about policy and programmes which could support both our work and that across other Cities of Languages in the UK. It was agreed that the Cities of Languages should continue to meet to work on suggestions for the APPG about what how Government can help support languages initiatives.
Click here to download the full presentation
About the APPG on Modern Languages
APPGs are informal groups of Parliamentarians with a common interest in particular issues. The purpose of the APPG on Modern Languages is to:
- explore the benefits of learning and using languages throughout the UK
- provide a parliamentary forum for information exchange and consultation on languages and linguists
- encourage and support policies and action improving the take-up of languages in schools, further and higher education, in the workplace and in the community
The Chair of the APPG on Modern Languages is Dame Nia Griffith MP (Labour), the Co-Chair is Baroness Coussins (Crossbench) and the Vice Chairs are Tonia Antoniazzi MP (Labour) and Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury (Conservative). The Chartered Institute of Linguists acts as the group’s Secretariat, with the financial support of the British Academy and the British Council.
Find out more at the APPG’s entry on the Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups. To contact the Secretariat of the APPG, email: APPGML@ciol.org.uk