International rescue for city school pupils

Published on Monday 10 March 2008 08:22

Language specialists are helping non-native speakers improve English as different cultures get along.

IT is a class like any other – excited chatter fills the room as the pupils work on their science project.

What isn't immediately obvious is how many youngsters discussing a recent visit to a butterfly farm are not fluent in English.

They are all reading the same books, but alongside some sits a specialist teacher – armed with flashcards picturing insects and their name in English – ready to prompt when necessary.

This is Edinburgh's Dalry Primary where around 30 flags hang in the gym hall – one for each of the nationalities represented at the school.

There have been rumblings of discontent about the supposed strain which the growing number of pupils for whom English is a second language is putting on schools. But headteacher David Fleming is proud of his multicultural classrooms.

"We see it as a positive thing here," he says. "We feel all our kids have an advantage at this school, especially when they go out into the world of work, when a knowledge of other cultures is vital."

Dalry is not unusual among Edinburgh schools today, which are now teaching 3490 youngsters who are native speakers of 88 languages other than English.

Polish, Urdu and Punjabi are the most common across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

While this diversity is being celebrated at the regular cultural events and special lessons organised in the schools, not everyone sees the challenges posed by teaching huge numbers of migrant pupils as positive.

The EIS, Scotland's biggest teaching union, warns teachers are struggling to provide the extra support bilingual children need.

And last year, at its annual conference, EIS teachers backed a motion calling for a cap on the number of non-English speaking pupils. The basis for this disquiet is the notion that the education system is failing native English speakers. The fear is that too big a slice of already-stretched education resources – 1 million a year and rising in Edinburgh – is being spent on language support.

"I don't think that is the case at all," says David. "We are so well supported. Also, our classes are lovely and small here."

Watching a class in action at Dalry Primary – where there is on average 23 pupils each – there is no sign at all of the momentum of the teaching having suffered.

Teacher and language support colleague move constantly around the classroom, keeping all the primary four children engaged.

Due to the high level of children needing help with their language skills, Dalry qualifies for help from the city council's expanding English as An Additional Language (EAL) service.

At Dalry, the two teachers are also often joined by a classroom assistant, as well as parent and community volunteers.

Stewart Crabb, headteacher of Leith Walk Primary, stresses that the EAL teachers are there to help all pupils who are struggling with their language skills.

Of the 200 pupils at his school, there are 89 bilingual learners and 20 different home languages represented. Polish is the most common – there are 22 pupils – followed by Urdu and Punjabi.

"The opportunities of being part of such a diverse school are huge because our children are very much culturally aware, which makes for a better, more rounded pupil experience," adds Stewart.

The EAL service in Edinburgh boasts 29 full-time equivalent teachers, 15 bilingual teaching assistants and two part-time bilingual nursery nurses. Last year, the bill for its services topped 1m and this year its budget is set to increase by 60,000 as more migrant pupils enrol at schools.

Demand for its services are likely to grow as more migrant workers prop up Scotland's falling workforce.

"It's common sense that with more EAL students coming in, we will need more resources," says Jon Reid, headteacher of Drummond Community High School, the secondary school with the most students needing language support in the Capital.

He said: "The influx, particularly of Polish immigrants, could not have been predicted and my understanding is that there hasn't been additional funding to the local authority. More cash should definitely be coming from central government for things like this."

More than 500 pupils attend Drummond High on Bellevue Place, a quarter of whom speak a language other than English at home. Jon says that 16 per cent of his pupils need additional classroom support.

At Drummond High, the demand is such that, last year, the school decided to spend an additional 19,000 on a bilingual classroom assistant.

And it has joined forces with Stevenson College to offer an evening class so that 19 students can work towards a Higher level English for Speakers of Other Languages qualification they can use when applying to university.

Jon Reid says average exam rates are inevitably lowered when schools have a large number of foreign language pupils.

But he is adamant that the teaching offered to native English-speaking children at his school has not suffered in the slightest.

"When you have got kids sitting exams and they have only been in the country for a year or two they are going to do well, but not as well as a student who is native Scottish," he explains.

"When people outside are judging schools, they are looking at league tables and they don't see the individual achievements."

He adds: "I think there's a lot of negativity and people need to see the positive sides. I think (multicultural classes] bring a richness to society and break down barriers and prejudices.

"Here it's just normal. We don't look at a kid and say 'they are Polish' – we see a child that needs to be supported and we treat them all the same. They are just our pupils and that's our mentality. Our kids go away with such an understanding of other cultures and I think that's so valuable in this day and age.

"The bottom line is that our white Scottish kids are not being disadvantaged by being in a classroom with EAL pupils.

"In fact, all evidence points to the opposite being true and that our kids are enriched and attaining more because of it."

'It seems that English is now her first language'

HAPPY-go-lucky six-year-old Alicja Turek loves going to school and enjoys nothing better than playing and chatting with her friends.

To her mum Kasia, who arrived in the Capital from her native Poland two-and-a-half years ago, seeing Alicja so settled is a huge relief.

"I think she is just a happy Polish girl in Scotland," says Kasia of her daughter, who attends Dalry Primary.

"She has friends from Scotland, China and America and, although English is her second language, it now seems as though it's her first."

Before leaving her native Gorzow, where she helped her mum look after children at a state-run orphanage, Kasia took basic English classes to prepare for her new life.

"When I arrived, my English was at a very basic level but as time goes on, I learn more and more," says Kasia.

"And, together with all the children I teach, we are all getting better with practice."

Twice a week, Kasia, who lives in Merchiston, helps the Polish children of Dalry Primary to keep up with the school work handed to them by their Scots teachers.

During the classes, which she runs as a volunteer, she also teaches her pupils about Polish culture and to read and write in their native language.

Kasia is also employed as a part-time classroom assistant at the school, translating if a pupil really can't keep up with what's going on in class.

"Some of the children, they do find it difficult," adds the 29-year-old.

"Some of them have never been to nursery, never mind school, and because it's in English, everything is different.

"That's why it's good that there is someone who can help them. It's a lot of work but it's lots of fun."