Speaking the right language

One primary school’s experience of teaching children with 43 different languages

In the three years between September 2004 and September 2007, Water Mill Primary School in Selly Oak near Birmingham taught children who spoke 43 different mother-tongue languages. Yet despite the challenge of educating children who speak many languages and of having a full social, cultural and economic range of pupils all under one roof, the school achieves good SATs results. We look at how head teacher Jenny Edginton has achieved this.

School Background

Water Mill Primary School is a one form entry school, teaching from Reception to Year 6. This academic year, 25 different languages including Filipino, Fijian, Yoruba, Korean, Slovakian, Hungarian, Punjabi and Gujarati are spoken by the 167 pupils. The school has always experienced a percentage of overseas students due to its proximity to Birmingham University and the hospital but this number has dramatically increased in the past five years.

For Water Mill Primary School, the key to helping new students for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL) to settle in does not lie in expensive translators; instead, an immersion in the language and a consideration of the needs of a family new to the country is the solution.

A helping hand

Landing in a school where you know no one and where all of your peers speak another language can be a lonely experience. At Water Mill Primary, new EAL pupils are buddied up with another child in their class who shows them the ropes: the buddy will take them to lunch, show where children hang their coats and teach them about the school and its culture. Such things as this are easy to communicate without a shared language; pointing and non-verbal gestures work well enough for young children and playground games are universal. A relationship like this is vital at the start of a period at a new school as behaviour and rituals may vary considerably from country to country.

Supporting the family

A recent project undertaken by the school was to create a welcome book for new families and pupils. The four books, comprising European, Asian, African and Eastern languages, indicate the need-to-know aspects of school life at Water Mill such as telling what time school starts and finishes, which clothes are worn for PE lessons and showing where the toilets are, with one for boys and one for girls. Each book uses prominent photographs and images and the text is written in up to ten different languages, including English.

Some schools can take it for granted that parents will know how schools operate but for those from foreign countries, nothing can be assumed. Although there are CD packages available which provide basic school information, Water Mill has found that their specific guide has proved very popular and useful for new families. EAL children wrote all of the captions in the books, meaning that everything included was trialled and tested as essential information.

In the classroom

Each class in the school has a teaching assistant who may dedicate part of the day to EAL pupils. One Teaching Assistant has received specialist EAL training and in the afternoons works with groups or individuals. Pupils are only withdrawn for short periods and the spoken language of every class and session is always English so that pupils are immersed in as much of the new language as possible. Activities during the teaching assistant’s sessions might be as simple as drawing a pencil case and its contents and labelling these for the pupil to become familiar with. Both financial and teaching help have been received from the LA in the past and the school is fortunate that the budget currently allows the funding of a specialist TA.

Teaching assistants are also involved in pre-teaching, during which pupils learn vocabulary that they will need for an upcoming topic studied with the rest of their class. For example, if the Roman era is about to be studied, the teaching assistant will run through some relevant words to ensure that every pupil gets the most out of the lessons.

During a child’s first week at Water Mill Primary School, no assessments are made; children are given the chance to settle into school before being tested to assess what they can already do and what they need to learn.

Reading and speaking

The teachers and teaching assistants at Water Mill Primary School have a wealth of material suitable for assisting EAL pupils, including Rapid from Heinemann. With the books and software programme, pupils practice reading with the specialist EAL teaching assistant and then, when confident, carry on alone either on one of the four computers in the classroom or using a laptop from the mobile ICT suite. The speech recognition software allows the pupils to speak into a headset and read aloud the text from the books. The programme corrects children’s reading errors and mispronunciations so pupils have the opportunity to practise in private, improving their spoken English skills and building vocabulary and all the while increasing their motivation. They then discuss their reading - with the EAL TA whose praise further encourages effort and progress.

The key to becoming a fluent speaker in English is confidence. When pupils feel confident and secure, they are happier to try to speak in their new, non-native language and thus by giving them the chance to practise and speak either with their friends, classmates, their teaching assistant or to the Rapid reading programme, they will become confident more quickly. It is important to remember that for many pupils, school might be the only place where they can practise their English.

Water Mill Primary School also has some dual-language reading books so that pupils can see their native language alongside its English translation. With these books, pupils of the same reading abilities can sit and read together, regardless of their mother-tongue language. The school does not use a reading scheme but values good quality books of all types.

Across the curriculum

Becoming proficient in English does not require intensive language lessons; a wide-ranging curriculum, full of enjoyable activities, will mean that children are comfortable and confident and will want to learn.

Last academic year, every class in the school made one or two large sculptures which were then set in a trail in the garden. With art and design technology, all pupils can join in, irrespective of nationality or language and children can learn a lot from each other by working in a team. If children are nervous or afraid, they will not learn but by engaging with a wide and creative curriculum, they will become involved and eager to share ideas and abilities and this improves their language skills.

Celebrating language

Water Mill Primary School is a family-orientated school, with the feel of a village school despite its proximity to Birmingham. Every year, the school performs a traditional nativity play, has a Harvest festival and demonstrates traditional English values and culture.

However, as part of an international city, this inclusive school also embraces the language and culture of each of its pupils. For example in assembly, children sing “The wheels on the bus” in many languages and recently, the head invited all parents to an international meal. The day was a great success, giving parents the opportunity to mix and meet each other, each bringing a dish from their own country to share at a picnic. The building of a positive and friendly community helps to improve parents’ English language ability and promote a shared language and thus helps parents to value the growing bilingual fluency of their children.

Categorising all EAL students together does not make sense; all pupils are individuals coming from different countries, speaking different languages and staying for varying lengths of time. However, all new pupils should be integrated into the class and immersed in their new language. Encouraging English speaking, applauding efforts and making learning fun will help to create a sense of enjoyment and confidence in a new language and by involving native English pupils in the progress will raise standards in all areas for all children.