Iceland review - 2016, Page 46

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We are incredibly proud of
the diversity of our school,”
says Sigurlaug Hrund
Svavarsdóttir, headmistress of Fellaskóli
junior and secondary school in the
Reykjavík suburb of Breiðholt when the
photographer and I visit the school in
early June. It’s recess when we arrive;
some children are in the playground,
others are chatting in the hallway. A
high proportion of Breiðholt’s resi-
dents—up to 26 percent depending on
the neighborhood—have a foreign back-
ground, and this is clearly reflected in
the group of students. Around 70 percent
of Fellaskóli’s 320 pupils have a for-
eign background and they speak a com-
bined 25 languages, from Vietnamese
and Arabic to Slovenian and Nepalese.
The 27 students in the school’s 9th grade
class, for example, represent 13 different
nationalities and 14 different languages.
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY
To celebrate this diversity, the students,
aged between six and 16, unveiled a
new artwork during the Reykjavík
Children’s Culture Festival in May.
‘Tungamálaregnboginn’ (‘The Language
Rainbow’) consists of 140 colored
plaques with the words of the colors of
the rainbow in different languages. The
ceremony was attended by Reykjavík
Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson and Foreign
Minister Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, herself a for-
mer Fellaskóli student.
The school has received a lot of media
attention in recent months. A few of
the school’s children were featured on
the program Rætur (‘Roots’) on national
broadcaster RÚV earlier this year. Some
of the students speak more than two
languages. Eleven-year-old Annija Keita
speaks Russian, English, Lithuanian and
Iceland Review visits Fellaskóli junior and secondary school in
Reykjavík, where the students speak a total of 25 languages. In
reflection of their colorful background, the school presented a new
artwork, ‘Tungumálaregnboginn’ (‘The Language Rainbow’) in May.
BY ZOË ROBERT.
PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
UNDER THE
RAINBOW