At St Thomas', we are lucky enough to have many children who can speak more than one language. Each year, a team of Language Ambassadors are chosen from Year 4, 5 and 6 so that when some children need a helping hand there is always a friendly face just around the corner! From welcoming new starters to reading dual-language books with younger children, the Language Ambassadors are a vital part of making every child feel confident, content and part of our school family.

We are delighted to introduce the Language Ambassador team for 2023/2024. Speaking a total of 8 languages between them, the work they will do will be invaluable! They will be making a difference to the school lives of so many of our children and the staff too as we often couldn't do our jobs without their translating skills!

Why is being a Language Ambassador important to our school vision?

‘Encouraging each other, overflowing with hope.’

D - "It can be scary if you don’t understand what you’re being told or asked. Being a language ambassador means that children don’t need to worry so much. They can feel hopeful about each day."

Z - "Lots of the new children speak the same language as me so I can translate and help their parents. I wanted to be a language ambassador because I wanted to help children communicate and especially help them make friends."

E - "Encouraging other children to speak English helps to make our world a better place. It allows them to make friends, take part in their lessons and make our school a safe place for them."

A -"It's really important that every child feels safe in our school. Encouraging other children to speak English helps to make our world a better place. It allows them to make friends, take part in their lessons and make our school a safe place for them."

M - "I wanted to be a language ambassador because you get to help so many people. We help the children, their parents and the teachers too. We can translate conversations and help everyone understand each other."

R - "Being a language ambassador means that if a child arrives from another country or doesn’t speak a lot of English then they still won’t be lonely. They’ll always have somebody to help them and be friends with."

Collective Worship

The Language Ambassador team have spent the last few weeks planning a Collective Worship. The title of their Collective Worship was 'Christmas Around Our St Thomas' World.'

They did lots of research and spoke to their families about Christmas traditions in the countries they are from. They then planned the Collective Worship - along with a fantastic powerpoint - and delivered it to KS1 and KS2. They spoke confidently and passionately while sharing many traditions and facts.

It was a fantastic way to begin Advent and to learn about and celebrate some of the different cultures and nationalities in our school.