Children line the streets to sing in Portuguese

From Clapham Common to the South Bank - children from Lambeth primary schools will be singing in Portuguese on 30 June.

Young people from five Lambeth primary schools will be stationed around the borough to sing in celebration of the Portuguese heritage of Lambeth - which has the largest Portuguese population of any city outside Portugal.

Cllr Paul McGlone, Lambeth's cabinet member for children and young people, said: "This is a great way to see Lambeth's Portuguese-speaking pupils expressing pride in their culture, language and roots and to celebrate the enormous contribution of the borough's Portuguese community."

The children will sing songs from Portuguese-speaking countries - Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome.

This event is the culmination of music workshops during the schools’ music lessons and comes after the national day of Portugal earlier this month when around 30,000 people gathered for a festival in Kennington Park.

The celebration also follows news of a group of year six pupils at Wyvil Primary School who have become the first in the country to gain nationally recognised qualifications for their Portuguese language skills.

Nearly half of Wyvil’s pupils are from Portuguese-speaking families and the school has provided after-school Portuguese classes twice a week for some years.

A group of 20 children took short tests in listening, speaking, reading and writing Portuguese under a nationally recognised assessment scheme called Asset Languages.

For further information please contact:
Gemma Briggs
Tel: 020 79260473