50 per cent of school speak English as a second language, should I be worried?

[lucysullivan]

Heard today where dc will be going to primary school, it wasn't a school we had listed as a preference so didn't know much about it. Just had a look at its OFSTED report and 50 per cent of pupils speak English as a second language. The report says that this translates into pupils having basic written and language skills. Overall the school has a satisfactory rating.

I feel gutted. On the one hand I keep telling myself that 4 and 5 year olds who don't yet speak English should be able to pick it up quickly when they start school so it shouldn't really be a problem. But on the other hand I have images of ds in the playground with no-one to speak to because of the language barriers. How will he be able to meet his full potential if he is in a classroom where 50 per cent of pupils will need extra help and attention from the teacher because they don't speak the language?

Just hoping I am worrying unnecessarily...

and actually most of the cleverest children in her class are bi/tri-lingual and probably classified as ESL.

You have to keep in mind that a lot of kids who were born in England, will be listed as this , because their parents prefer to list English as a second language , for pride or whatever reasons. I find that in my daughter's school. They all speak excellent English. My husband is English, and I am not, so statistically maybe she is listed as a non- native, although she is.

If nothing we struggle with the incorrect dialect she is picking up from English children, dropping their t's, phrases like "we was"- to name a few.

Sorry haven't read whole thread.

Alot depends on your DC. My 3 DC attend a similiar school. DD has benefitted enormously from the experience. She is in now in Reception, and is reading and writing already. She has spent alot of time with a girl who moved over from Somalia in January, helping her to learn English. At this age children learn alot from repetition, and my DD has certainly benefitted from going over alot of basics with this little girl. She has also learnt alot socially. She has not been held back in any way.

On the other hand one of my DS'S (in Year5) moved to a school which is more mixed, and this has helped him. There were quite a few issues, but one problem for him was feeling he was in a minority.

Not sure what the answer is really.

I agree that a school with a range of languages can be an enriching experience but I think the 'attendance problems' in addition might make a few alarm bells ring. I would definitely go and visit. There is a massive difference between a class with 'bilingual' children or even 'English as a second (but fairly frequently used) language' and 'practically no English whatsoever' - in the last case the teachers will inevitably have to spend much of their time teaching English as a foreign language, to a significant proportion of the class. Go and see what the real situation is. If you are feeling cheeky ask whether the teachers with primary age children send them to the school.

I agree with belgo that in Belgium becoming bilingual or gaining language experience tends to be more prized than here. But there can be subtle social aspects too. Where we lived in Brussels many of the Francophones sent their children to Flemish schools - for many good reasons like learning another official language etc - and also for rather more negative reasons like the fact that the Francophone schools often had a lot of immigrants from North Africa and Turkey - whose associated languages they were somehow less keen on their children being exposed to.

bellissima - I have heard of francophone parents sending their children to flemish speaking schools and I was going to cite that as an example of where a multilingual school doesn't work so well (from what I have heard) because there is no common language. Some children sepak flemish; others french and because it is so split it is difficult to make them mix. Some school even ban french from being spoken in the playground to try and maintain the flemish majority but this is difficult to enforce.

My dc go to a school were many languages are spoken - european and african and asian so the children are forced to have flemish as their common language.

For 6+ years I taught in an inner-London school where the majority of our pupils spoke English as an additional language. I think in each of my classes I probably only had one or two children who weren't at least bilingual. We regularly had Y5 children arriving from outside of the UK who hadn't been educated in the UK education system and spoke not a word of English but after 6 months they were fluent in English. Would I have sent my own daughter there if I was still teaching there? Yes, without a doubt! We have chosen to live in multi-cultural London and I love that she will grow up surrounded by the languages and traditions of other countries but also know that because of the more challenging intake at my old school that we teachers bent over backwards to ensure the children got all they could out of being at school.

If English is an additional language for many pupils then it stands to reason that writing and reading performance will be of a lower standard than hoped for; most children are better at speaking a language than they are at writing it and I personally would not be put off a school because of a comment such as the one you included from the Ofsted report.

Do as others have said and visit the school both with and without your son. Arrange to speak to the Headteacher and ask about the performance of English-speaking boys. If, as your OP suggests, they are in the minority then the Head should be able to tell you all about their performance and how it relates to others in the school, national averages etc. There's no harm in being put on waiting lists but equally you have nothing to lose by having your mind put at rest by seeing for yourself what the school is offering your son.

Are you in Kent? My dd was given a very similar sounding school and I would not send her there. The situation is that most children can not speak English properly when they start and there is a high level of movement of pupils.

I agree with what another post says, that a position will come up elsewhere. I would either send whilst on waiting list or educate at home while on waiting list.

It isn't a case at our given school, that children are lucky enough to be bilingual. It is one language that dominates at that school and will deter resources from other childrens education as most can not speak English when they arrrive.