Free “Around the World Club” package from Newcastle University distributed to schools worldwide.
Helping to integrate children from all backgrounds by providing interactive learning experiences about world cultures, activities, and languages Newcastle University is offering schools worldwide a free “Around the World Club” package, which includes the ENACT web app. Free setup assistance is available throughout June and July.
The ENACT web app, developed by a team of computing scientists and applied linguists at Newcastle University with an EU grant, is a core component of the package. It currently features over 150 cultural activities from around the globe, with new content added regularly. Teachers can flexibly use the app to create “Around the World Clubs” during lessons or as extracurricular sessions, catering to all ages and abilities.
A key benefit of the package is its support for language learning. The activities are accessible regardless of English proficiency, allowing all children to explore diverse cultures and languages.
Professor Paul Seedhouse, Professor of Educational and Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University, emphasised the broad applicability of the package. “Although we are sending this package directly to language teachers, it is available to teachers in any subject area,” he said. “It may be particularly useful to teachers at the end of the summer term.
Professor Seedhouse also announced an upcoming competition with prizes for individuals, including one reserved for children, to upload their favourite cultural activity in their preferred language to the ENACT system. Details will be released in the coming weeks.
ENACT project a collaborative effort
The Communities, Languages, and Activities App (ENACT) project is co-funded by the European Commission, Erasmus Key Action 2 Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education. The project is led by Newcastle University (UK), with consortium partners including Boğaziçi University (Turkey), Cultura Foundation (Finland), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), and the University of Helsinki (Finland).
The “Around the World Club” has been recognised for its innovation, being shortlisted by hundrED.
Around the World Club – Where it all started
Around the World Club was conceived in collaboration with the North East Solidarity Teaching (N.E.S.T) Schools Project, which is now in its fourth year and provides reading and integration-focused sessions to support students from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in schools across the city.
The project was designed by Sarah Edgar at Newcastle City Council – who has recently secured funding for an additional three years. The project is an integral part of Newcastle City Council’s efforts to support refugee and asylum-seeking children and contributes towards schools’ work to gain School of Sanctuary status.
N.E.S.T has successfully delivered the project in 12 schools over the last three years, using a team of highly motivated volunteers. N.E.S.T Schools includes twice weekly reading sessions in all the primary schools followed by weekly after-school clubs aimed at promoting children’s emotional, academic, and social integration. At the secondary schools, the same sessions run once a week.
The ENACT Around the World Club has been implemented in four of these schools as an after-school club.
Research and future of ENACT
Newcastle University (UK) and its partners in Finland, Spain and Turkey have been collecting data from hundreds of people over the last four years on what they have learnt using the ENACT web app. In 2026 the partners will publish a book with Bloomsbury about this called ‘Cultural Tasks for Digital Language Learning’. The research shows that people can learn from ENACT activities in terms of a) vocabulary learning b) digital skills c) intercultural understanding. In addition, learners, volunteers and teachers have reported possible gains in terms of a) improved motor skills from doing a craft/cooking activity b) increased social integration within the school/class c) increased engagement with the school curriculum.
The long-term aim of the ENACT Web App is to build up a bank of cultural language learning tasks available for free worldwide, covering as many languages, cultures and countries as possible, promoting intercultural understanding and communication.
SOURCE: Seedhouse, P., Whelan, A., Satar, M. and Navickaite, E. (2025) Policy Report: Introducing the Around the World Club, Free Package for Use in Schools Worldwide. Newcastle University.
