Students are speaking your language!

Rosa Cisneros (Coventry University, UK) Jan 30th, 2023

FirVale School (Sheffield, UK) was the host of the second UK Roma Women’s Gathering. The school has a mix of different ethnicities and the school celebrates success, hard work and achievement, and take pride in what they do. They instil should confidence in their pupils and show respect for the school’s environment and their communities. They take an interest in learning about what the multiple families have in common and believe we should all be kind to one another and treat others as you want to be treated. FirVale school prides itself in being a safe space for Roma young people and gives them loads of opportunities.

Recently, the schools started the Language Leaders programme where pupils are given opportunities to tap into their multi-lingual backgrounds and are encouraged to bring the language and the cultural surrounding, into the classroom.

Students from all year groups applied for a Language Leader post and the successful applicants were awarded their badge in an assembly with external visitor Rosa Cisneros from Coventry University. Cisneros discussed her own non-linear career path and also the importance that languages has played for educational success for Roma pupils within the RTransform project. Cisneros actively encouraged the young people to embrace their languages as these could be future career paths. The Language Leaders will be supporting staff and students in the FirVale school community.