6 days ago
‘It really is a melting pot': Belfast primary school where 17 languages are spoken wins international award
Such is the diversity at Cliftonville Integrated Primary in north Belfast.
But the school has risen to the task of providing an education and integration in a changing social landscape and has now been rewarded with the British Council's International School Award 2024-2027 – the only recipient in Northern Ireland.
The UK-wide award scheme celebrates schools that bring the wider world into the classroom, creating a safe and welcoming environment for all pupils, fostering a culture of inclusion and celebrating diversity.
Bill Fletcher is principal of Cliftonville Integrated Primary, which has over 400 pupils and is already a designated school of sanctuary.
He said that while the vast majority of the children are from the home nations, they do have kids from all over the world.
'There are challenges in the sense that if you have children coming in who have no English, that's difficult for the teachers. There's very little support from the Department of Education or the Education Authority. I think that's a strategy they need to look at,' he said.
Without that support, it's something the school provides for itself, with a member of staff as a dedicated international coordinator. Parents and pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) can also benefit from English classes with the school's dedicated EAL teacher.
Mr Fletcher added: "We need to do more across the board to help families when they come here, maybe through something like a six-month intensive programme in English to help them integrate into society.
'It's far better for their children, though the children always tend to pick up English very quickly.
'We have six designated school ambassadors in the school, pupils who help to integrate new children regardless of where they're from. We have about 16% of children in the school who would be classed as coming from an EAL background.
'They may have been here for a number of years and may be fluent in English, but there are some who have arrived in the last year to 18 months who need some help with the language. It's quite a diverse group, but we're absolutely delighted at the recognition for the work we do. It's something we've been doing for quite some time.'
The British Council chose Cliftonville Integrated Primary as the location to launch its language trends report 2025. It showed Spanish as the most popular language studied in Northern Ireland schools, but also found a reluctance among pupils to carry language studies through to qualifications level.
North Belfast MP John Finucane recently collected the award on behalf of the school at Westminster and was delighted to present it on Wednesday morning.
'It's fantastic to see that they've been honoured for the amazing work they do,' he said.
'It's not just a one-off, they live this and practise this on a daily basis. It's a school that embraces all cultures and diversities. They make children not just aware of that, but increase their curiosity, increase their learning and I think increase their kindness through the exposure to lots of different cultures.
'I'm a big fan of bilingualism, even multilingualism in schools. It's wonderful for the development of children, their learning and their capacity to embrace different subjects as they progress their academic life.
'It's not necessarily just about making them fluent in lots of different languages. It's about that exposure to different cultures, different parts of our world, and to embed that in our own curriculum is something that would be celebrated. We don't need to look any further than Cliftonville Integrated Primary School to see how that can be done really well.'
Central to everything the school does, though, is the wellbeing and education of its pupils, and nine-year-old Victoria Chen is loving her role as one of its international ambassadors.
She said: 'We show people around the school, welcome them here, and help them to make new friends. It's nice to be able to help new pupils understand more about school life.'
Many of the pupils are learning Mandarin and French as part of their daily routine.
Charlotte Ogunleye said she loves the international atmosphere.
'It's helping me learn about other cultures around me. I'm learning to speak Mandarin and I can see patterns in other languages. I hope that will help me learn more,' she said.
'It's our job to make sure anyone new to the school doesn't feel lonely and left out,' said fellow ambassador Wolfie Burns (9). 'We want to make sure everyone feels welcome and able to join in and I'm proud to be able to do that.'
Author of the British Council language trends report, Dr Ian Collen, said he was delighted to see languages in action in schools.
'It really is a linguist melting pot here. And it's wonderful to see how it all comes together, providing all the pupils with a real taste of cultural diversity which they can all share, enjoy and learn from together.
'What you see in Cliftonville Integrated Primary is something that all schools should aspire to. It's not just about learning one language, school can be about learning lots of languages in a fun, informative way.'
