Why EXACTLY do people see EAL pupils as a hindrance to their kid's education?

[Rosebud05]

On MN and in RL, I've heard lots and lots of people say that a large percentage of children with a home language other than English puts them off a school.

It's been cited in several 'I will not send my child to that school and will HE' threads for example.

Without starting a bun fight, is anyone able to explain what the perceived problems are? Are people concerned that their child's education/language development will be hindered? Is there any truth in this?

DS's class in his community primary in a notorious area of Lambeth, has a high ratio of EAL children, a very high ratio of children on free school meals, 3 (possibly 4) refugees, and a couple of children with SEN.

The overall results are significantly higher than the national average.

EAL children seem to pick up English very quickly indeed. certainly quickly enough to keep pace with the 'learning through play' process of Reception, and the learning to read process seems very accessible to them and they pick up the language at the same time. (I did 'reading practice' in the class in R).

Also, there is academic research which demonstrates that bilingual children, or those exposed to more than one language from an early age actually develop a better understanding of what language is and how it functions.

All the refugee families with children in his class are incredibly conscientious in supporting thier children's education - of all the people in the school, they perhaps know how valuable it is and how important it is that now here, thier children flourish, fit in and make something of thier lives here.

And as for average attainment - I know there are a few kids in the class who will score v low in SATS and afffect the overall average, butIi don't see how that has any bearing at all on the education or achievements of my heading- for-high-scores DS or some of his friends who are extremely high achievers.

It's a well run school - that's what counts.

I think it's partly understandable ignorance - if you haven't seen it then it's difficult to believe quite how quickly young children with EAL develop near perfect English when immersed, even when they started nursery with very limited English, so you might imagine that these children need loads of additional support all the way up the school, thus leaving much less staff time for the other children.

But EAL may also be a marker for a transient local population which is more of a problem and I'd certainly worry far more about a child joining in year 5 with no English than one starting in nursery / reception with no English.

Like several of the posters above I'd also be concerned about my DC attending a mono-cultural EAL school, 90% Polish or Bangladeshi, I don't think that's ideal, and it's a headache if you want to make contacts at the school gate and have playdates.

At the right age non-English-speaking children pick up the language in the playground as much if not more than in the classroom and are soon able to communicate/understand well.

Also, don't many EAL children come from aspirational homes with a strong support for school - eg Chinese and Polish?

Massive cross-post with Blu and Dilys -

I would only be concerned if all the children spoke the same foreign language.

I once took my preschool aged kids to a park and there was a school party of children there. They were all of the same Asian descent, including the teachers and were all speaking the same language to each other and the teachers to them. I felt really very sorry for the only three English children in that class, who presumably did not understand what was going on.

I am not sure how typical this is, but it would concern me.

On the contrary, I would have no objections sending my children to a class with children from all different nationalities/languages, as my own children are bilingual.

i would love my child to go to a school with a real mix of children with EAL and different first or family languages.

i am rubbish at learning languages although i do try and i would love my child to be better at this and have opportunities when younger (i didn't till i was 11)

however, i would not like my child to be a minority as an english speaker in a class where the children revert to a single other language in the playground or the families to one single other language in social situations.

i would be happy for my child to be schooled with a large proportion of migrants, and some refugees but would be worried if a very high proportion were refugees with associated extra support required.

Immigrant children make learning a richer experience for all, study shows
Hope this link will work, it makes very interesting reading, if not try to google it, well worth it.

In my experience going to school with EAL students was a very positive thing for my DS

His primary and secondary schools had a high number of Asian students and education is highly regarded amongst their parents

They were much harder working than my DS

DS is going to be going to a nursery school where he will definitely be in the ethnic minority. I am quite pleased about this: he will hopefully get into the reception class there and have a really good appreciation of different cultures as he grows up. He has several family cultures himself (British, Irish, German) and his best friend at current nursery is of Nigerian origin and he has another friend who is Chinese (they are all going to the same nursery school) and I applaud it all. Most of the children there are ethnic Asian, and I'm willing to bet they have a very strong work ethic no matter what language they speak, and so it should be good for everyone.

It's the school gate I'm worrying about - that I won't be able to make small talk! My boss (whose son went there) said that in his community, playdates aren't something they do, so I am preparing myself for some cultural gaffes!!