Article Details

Article Details

Allons-y ‘Wee Famille’!

Author: Stacey Arneil, North Ayrshire

In North Ayrshire, the 1+2 team have embarked on a new initiative to raise the profile of languages and engage families with their children in learning French. The 1+2 team partnered with the Family Learning team and SCILT to deliver the seven-week project, aptly called ‘Wee Famille’, in Springside Primary in Irvine.

Amanda Muir, Family Learning Co-ordinator, kicked off ‘Wee Famille’ with a logo design competition. Together with SCILT, the 1+2 team worked to identify language learning opportunities, as well as exciting and engaging ways to deliver the language. They then consolidated key vocabulary into a ‘Wee Famille passeport’, bearing the winning logo design, to support family learning at home. For seven weeks, families were invited into school one afternoon each week to learn French with their child. Before each session, parents and carers had a cuppa and a croissant with the Family Learning team.

The 1+2 team sourced various donations to support the project, including a French language pack from One Third Stories, a small business based in England, whose speciality is sprinkling vocabulary into a story that starts in English and finishes in another language.

During Book Week Scotland, Gillian Muir, author of ‘Wee Dug’ books, including Louis Goes to Paris, visited with Louis himself. Louis, a rescue dog from Belgium, is the main character in these picture-book adventures.

The families have been so enthusiastic about the project and attendance has been consistent each week. The final week of the project will be a celebration, culminating in a cultural event to include food, dance and artwork inspired by Mattisse. After the pilot is complete, the partnership will do a case study and look forward to making the project available in French and Spanish for anyone to pick up and use.

 

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