Bromley Bilingual School opens in Sep 2014

[bonjourlondon]

Dear all,

This is to share this that I only discovered last week (apologies if already a well know information):

The Bromley Bilingual Primary School (due to open in september 2014) is taking applications for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 now, closing date 15th january. It will be a free bilingual school in English and French.

www.bbs-cfbt.org.uk/Home.aspx

A public/parent meeting is planned at 2pm Saturday 19th October,
The Lowell Room, Bromley United Reform Church, 20 Widmore Road, Bromley, BR1 1RY

www.bromleytimes.co.uk/news/applications_open_for_places_at_new_bromley_bilingual_school_1_2366862

I think this is an amazing opportunity for children and families. I'm posting this because I didn't find any information about it on Mumsnet and thought it could interest other parents on the Bromley forum. We've just applied for our son.

Thanks.

[allyfe]

We applied too :)

[casacastille]

I wish I lived around there...

[bonjourlondon]

Helly,

Allyfe,
What year did you apply for?

Casa,
You don't need to live in the area to apply at this stage when you apply online on the school site. This was confirmed by the school team, they deal with the applications this year for the opening next year.

[bonjourlondon]

...That was Hello of course, and not Helly...

[allyfe]

Bonjourlondon we applied for year 1, for our oldest. :) Not sure we will get in. I'm hoping they will extend year 1 to two classes (if there is demand) so that we stand more chance of getting in.

[Noseynoonoo]

Are you applying for a school that has no confirmed location?

[bonjourlondon]

Hi Nosey,
Yes the Bromley Bilingual School hasn't confirmed it's future location as they are currently looking for the premises they said. It should be in either BR1 or BR2 postcode though I have been told. There is a good chance that they could announce the future location at the meeting taking place 19/10. Are you interested?

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

We are a few miles from Bromley. Does anyone know how competitive it will be to get a place / likely admission distance?

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

I have a DD currently in Y1 and a DS due to start Yr R next year if that makes any difference.

[allyfe]

GhoulWithADragonTattoo They are going to do 50% on proximity and 50% on lottery. That way, if you live further away from the school, you still have a chance of getting in. If you have a DD in Y1, then you would be applying for YR2 for her and reception for your DS. They will allocate the places for YR2 first (where there is probably less competition anyway), and if your DD gets a place, your DS will automatically get one via the sibling rule for reception. Does that make sense? Their website does have a lot of information, so have a look (I've read almost all of it I think :p )

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

Allyfe - That's brilliant thank you very much. So it's well worth applying :)

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Hi can I ask if everyone here who is planning to apply for this new school is in fact bilingual at home? I am interested in the school because I would love DD to speak French as well as English, but I wonder whether it would be fair to her when we do not speak French at home and she is only able to speak a few words of French.

If lots of other children are in the same position it would be less of a concern.

[allyfe]

MummyPigsFatTummy my children don't currently speak any French, and we only speak English at home. So, I totally understand your concerns! I am also a bit worried about that. In communications I have had with the parents behind the project, they are very much expecting not all children to come from a bilingual environment. It is still a bit frightening as a parent to commit your child to that, but at the same time it is such an amazing opportunity to become bilingual. I have a friend who is also very interested in applying and her children would be in the same situation - coming from a monolingual (English) home environment.

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Thanks so much allyfe. That is very reassuring. If a good proportion of the other children are in the same boat, then it would mean DD wouldn't be struggling compared to everyone else and, as you say, the opportunity to become bilingual is a great one.

I will definitely go along to the meeting in that case and find out more about the school itself.

Thanks again.

[bonjourlondon]

Hello,
We are indeed a bi-lingual family as i'm french but my husband english, so i suppose others are in the same situation and hope that their child can join.
Exciting indeed, and scary at the same time...
Fingers crossed

[allyfe]

Just in case anyone was thinking of going to the meeting on 19th October, it is fully booked (I hadn't realised you had to book a place to attend). They only had space for 50 people. However, they are having another meeting on 23rd November. I think that you will need to book for that - the address is: [email protected] (all of this comes from their facebook page).

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Oh no Allyfe. How annoying - I really wanted to go on Saturday. Oh well - thanks for the heads up.

[allyfe]

MummyPigs - not sure if you are on the BBS facebook page, but they have announced the headteacher (he sounds fantastic) and the school site (it will be in the old DHSS building on Westmoreland Road, just by Bromley South station).

[WildebeestH]

Allyfe - that's interesting news. It's really a little far for us and I feel like its slightly untested but I'm also interested in BBS.

[allyfe]

WildebeestH I'm hoping that because the charity managing it know what they are doing, and that they are working with the Judith Kerr school in Herne Hill that it may be a slightly smoother start than some new schools. Although I there will be some teething issues. It just seems such an incredibly opportunity, not least because it isn't an expensive private school! How far away are you guys?

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Thanks allyfe - sounds interesting. I saw the facebook page and while it is a bit out of the way for us (we are the other side of Bromley) it is not that bad I guess. We are coming to the meeting on Saturday anyway so looking forward to hearing more details then.

[WildebeestH]

allyfe...we meet again...and as you now know, we're in Penge. We will outgrow our house within the next couple of years though and moving further out is one option. I do like the idea of a bilingual school but I worry a bit about whether it can be right for any child. I mean I have every confidence that my only just three old is intelligent and wants to learn but what if languages just aren't his thing? Or he misses out on something else because he's too busy trying to get to grips with French. Maybe I underestimate the capacity and flexibility of small people.

[bonjourlondon]

Hello all,
I am french and my husband english, our son wasn't bilingual until he was 3 because we mainly talked in french to him. So we started to watch it and made sure we spoke in english to him as much as possible and he's now 90% bilingual at the age of 5. Children have an amazing capacity to learn and adapt and giving them the chance to be bilingual is an outstanding and amazing opening to the world, others, themselves, it's an intellectual, communicational huge help, and as a bilingual person myself i have expectienced that it only helps in life to be bilingual. Believe me, there is just NO negative to it. In the world we live in, what an amazing asset. We have applied for our son to join BBS next year so wait and see. As for the fact that it is obviously untested, one has to start somewhere. Given the amazing work already achieved by the team behind the BBS project, what was said in the meeting we attended, the profile of the Headteacher, I have every confidence that the aim for this school is to be excellent.

[noramum]

allyfe, it is time for this building to get a new life.

We are a German household and DD grows up English as the outside world language and German at home. DD is 6 and speaks English first, German with some grammar problems. But all-together it is a great opportunity.

I must admit, I don't know if I would send her to a bi-lingual school unless it is a proper set up. From what I heard about the Judith Kerr school in Herne Hill with German only 1 hour a day, this is not enough to create a proper bi-lingual experience.

Bonjour: it should be your husbands task to speak English to your son. I refuse to speak English to my daughter unless we are in mixed or mainly English company.

[bonjourlondon]

Hi Nora,
As the plan of BBS is to teach in English half the day and French the other half, only the English curriculum, that should be enough of both language to create the bilingual experience.
It is true that one should speak their mother tongue to their child, but it is usually recommended to develop bilingualism that the minority language (ie English in our case as we live in France currently) is spoken at home, which is why we spoke to our DC in English a lot.