Primaries with v high ofsted scores but 75% etnic minorities who don't have English as a first language.

[joannita]

Anyone have experience of the above or similar? There are a lot of good schools in Manchester with a very high proportion of kids who don't have English as a first language. My instinct is to think a good school is a good school, but I worry that if they are focused on helping children who are starting from a low base in English, then children who are already doing pretty well might not get so much attention.

I know bilingual kids actually have a lot of advantages in learning once they get going with the second language, so maybe this is only an issue at foundation stage. Would be interested to hear others' views, especially from personal experience.

I take your point but here's what it says on the description of the school:
"Most pupils are from minority ethnic groups. A significant
number are new to the country. Many are at an early stage in English language acquisition."

Is it worth talking to the school in question to see if they have additional support in place for those learners in order that other children still have the attention they need?

I would say that small children tend to pick up new languages very quickly when they're immersed in the language.

If 75% or a school's pupils were from a non-English speaking ethnic group, I'd be a bit more concerned if they were a homogeneous group and the English speakers would be in the minority. However, if it is a mixed group then English will be the common language.

the top 2 in literacy in my ds's class come from none english speaking homes. The only ones in the school!

Thanks veritythebrave that's very interesting. Do you feel happy with your DD's education so far?

Rightvswrong yep they must be bright kids and bilingualism can be a real plus once they get going.

Right, Verity, you draw some very interesting distinctions. Too early to know if DS will need support as he's only 2. He's a good talker and picks new concepts up quickly but could be dyslexic or anything for all I know. Also have twins on the way who are obviously very much an unknown quantity. Interesting that the gap disappears in the junior year groups.

the only two none English speaking children in the school will have a lot more time and resources available to them than a school which has a very high number.
you would think so but it isn't actually the case. In schools with high levels of EAL there are often TAs employed who speak the pupils home language to support the child/groups of children. We got two visits from EMTAS who left a booklet in the child's home language, instructions to email them if we needed letters for parents translated and told not to worry if the child didn't speak for a year or two as he would be internalising English.

Nearly forgot she read him a story in Lithuanian ... he was Polish!

"you would think so but it isn't actually the case" I agree mrz. There has been no extra suport from the school. They are very bright and they have very motivated parents. They are on the G&T list and they passed the test to the nearest Grammar school.

So true mrz. A local school with 75% eal has 5 times (honestly) the number of fte TAs than us, with our smattering of unusual languages.both schools are the same size. The school is outstanding, which is understandable with the intervention they provide and the progress the children show.

We have 1 for 6 classes

1.IME children from homes with a different first language pick up English incredibly quickly in school, and as you say, children fluent in more than one language have an intellectual advantage over monolingual children because the process of learning another language teaches them things about coding, symbols, structure - it is good cognitive experience.

1. It is another few years before your child will join, a lot can happen then, including fewer new arrivals.
2. The only potentila issue, IME, can be if the vast majority of children in a class all speak the same home language and have a very strong home community culturally which is less conducive to 'mix and match' friendships and means children may speak a home language amongst themselves in the playground. This is far less common than it was a generation ago.
3. Visit the school and make your own observations. there may be many othere factors that attract you to the school or not. Being 'Outstanding' doesn't mean it will suit everyone, and often lower rated schools are referred or more suitable to many families. It all depends!

I would question the school about the impact in the class and how much they actually have to do extra as just being an EAL child doesn't mean the child is just starting with English/has only a basic knowledge.

My DD is officially an EAL child as we are both German and speak only German at home.

But: you won't know it if you just meet her. Her active language is English, not German. She may speak German if she can be bothered or if we are in Germany but she thinks, dreams and instinctively uses only English.

DD went to nursery from 11 months and therefore grew up more or less the same as all her mono-lingual friends.

Our multi-everything primary school in the inner city has 2 TAs in each Foundation and KS1 classroom, and one TA in each KS2 class. Plus 3 'learning mentors' / SENCO specialists (for a one form intake primary) who have thoer own classroom for supplementary classes, language, or booster classes or whatever is needed, plus a couple of 'floating' TAs who go in when small groups or individuals within any class need specialist support.

It has a high ratio of children on FSM and the extra finding that schools get in respect of children pn FSM is used to give extra support.