St Andrew’s Church School in Bath has added nearly 40 new bilingual picture books and dictionaries to its permanent library collection, as well as hosting a specially curated collection of European literature this summer term.
St Andrew’s is a small, welcoming, diverse school in Central Bath, where over 25 languages are spoken by children at home. With so many bilingual children and to encourage language learning, Headteacher Jayne Rochford-Smith was keen to increase the number of multilingual books and resources in the school library. To support the initiative, The Friends of St Andrew’s PTA held fundraising activities, including Hot Chocolate Fridays in the playground, which were warmly received over the winter as Covid restrictions were gradually eased.
The new bilingual picture books include well-known titles such as Aliens Love Underpants, Farmer Duck and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt in dual-language editions (English and a translation such as Italian, Polish, Spanish, Arabic or Korean). These books enable parents to read with their children in whichever language they feel most comfortable, help new bilingual students settle into the school and expose children to new languages.
“I imagined these picture books would appeal primarily to younger children in Reception and Year 1, but when the children from Year 6 were helping me sort and stamp the books, many were thrilled to read bilingual books in their languages and became totally engrossed,” commented Ellen from the PTA Committee. “Others enjoyed finding their friends’ languages to show them, then hearing them read familiar stories aloud in another version. It was a joy to see their enthusiasm for the many languages around them!”
This summer term, St Andrew’s is also excited to host the EUROTOOLBOX book collection. EUROTOOLBOX is a collection of nearly 80 children’s books written in French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and English that have been selected by librarians working for the European Cultural Institutes in London, representing the best books published every year in the respective European countries. The collection also includes 16 books that have won the latest prestigious Carnegie and Kate Greenaway children’s literature awards.
Children at St Andrew’s will be able to borrow books from the EUROTOOLBOX collection throughout the summer term, before it moves on to another school. Hosting this unique collection is free, with schools only covering the expense of postage to the next borrower. Hosting the collection at St Andrew’s was arranged after the PTA contacted the Italian Cultural Institute in London, which also kindly donated a selection of high-quality Italian children’s books to St Andrew’s library.
Headteacher Jayne Rochford-Smith said, “Thank you – these will enrich the library wonderfully. It’s really special that all our children will have access to all these brilliant multilingual resources!”