Raising the Profile event, 5pm 29th March online
Our partners at the Association of Language learning are hosting a free online event exploring how to raise the profile of Home, Heritage and Community Languages (HHCL). The event is for all teachers of HHCL in any context. The event is free, but registration is required to get the link for the session on zoom. Click here to complete the registration form to receive the link to join the event on Wednesday 29th March at 5pm on zoom.
- Speaker: Jignasha Patel will speak about the work of the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in raising the profile of Gujarati
- Speaker: Clarinda Calma from the Embassy of Poland will talk about their work in raising the profile of Polish language
- There will be an update on news related to supporting HHCL and examples of other projects and initiatives supporting HHCL
- There will be opportunities for questions and for networking with other teachers
National support for HHCL
Languages other than English used in daily life at home, in school and in local communities are known as home, heritage and community languages. They include languages such as Arabic, Bangla, French, German, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Urdu, Yoruba and many more languages from across the world.
The national HHCL Advisory Group, hosted by the Association of Language Learning and British Council, has a vision for a unified approach to supporting and promoting the importance and value of all languages spoken in our communities, taking full account of the rapidly changing global conditions and the movement of people.
Every language an asset; every person respected; every culture acknowledged.
Our vision is to foster an understanding, humane and inclusive society, proud to recognise and value all languages as an asset; where diverse cultures are acknowledged, accepted and respected.
The wealth of languages spoken in the UK has strategic significance for the country and personal meaning for individuals and their communities.
The group is addressing the challenges and opportunities of optimising multilingualism across civil society, with a particular, but not exclusive focus, on families, education and training. The HHCL group will work to raise the visibility of a wider range of languages with the intention of increasing the number of people learning and gaining accreditation and recognition of achievement in those languages.
Click here to download the Home, Heritage and Community Languages Advisory Group: Vision and Goals document with the plans for the short, medium and longer term up to 2030.
The Association of Language Learning also hosts an HHCL zone on their website, which shares news, events and research relating to this important topic. Click here to find out more.
Supporting HHCL in Newcastle
Newcastle has an increasingly diverse population, with a wide range of international communities, students and workers living here. We celebrate this diversity and the benefits this brings to our multicultural city.
There are many community and faith based organisations across the city, which support our diverse language and cultural communities. Click here to visit our directory to find out more.
There are many organisations providing support for language learning across Newcastle. You can find out about some of these here and others are listed in our Directory.
We know from a Newcastle City Council survey in 2019, that 151 languages are spoken by children attending Newcastle schools. As part of our Newcastle City of Languages work to promote language learning and teaching, progression and skills for the future, we work with partners in promoting the teaching of and qualifications in children and young people’s Home, Heritage and Community Languages.
We connect schools with native speakers to support language exams, through Newcastle University Language Resource Centre and community partners.
There are also specific initiatives, such as the service offered by our partners at Success4ALL and The Language Centre in Newcastle. They have come together to provide an offer for schools who have pupils from diverse backgrounds and cultures and who speak, or want to learn a wide range of languages and gain qualifications in these subjects as a means to improve skills, attainment and employment opportunities. Click here to find out more.
There is a new Arabic Teaching Council in the North East, led by Success4ALL which is supporting the teaching and learning of Arabic across the region. Click here to find out more.
International Newcastle also co-ordinates the annual Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages (running until the end of March), which includes free activities promoting and celebrating diverse languages, cultures and communities.
We are always happy to hear from any organisations supporting language learning and the promotion of our diverse cultures. Do get in touch if you have information to share.