A primary school has been likened to a mini United Nations because pupils speak a combined total of 30 different languages.
Arabic, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Korean, Romanian, Indonesian, Kurdish, Polish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Dutch, Italian and Farsi are just some of the languages pupils are fluent in at Water Mill Primary School in Birmingham.
Some pupils even know the Yuroba language, which is spoken in parts of West Africa, mostly in southwestern Nigeria.
Lessons are taught in English but teachers believe having such a rich range of cultures benefits the pupils’ education.
It’s thought more languages were spoken at the school but some of the 210 pupils have left due to the pandemic and Brexit.
The school is located close to the University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital so often welcomes the children of visiting academics and practitioners.
Headteacher Paula Rudd says she tries to find ways for pupils to learn about each other’s different backgrounds.
She said: ‘I think it’s an advantage for the children, as they can learn about different cultures and other countries.
‘Within our curriculum, we try to involve as much of the culture and heritage of other countries. So, if we did history for example and look at explorers, we wouldn’t just look at the well-known European explorers but also people from other countries.
‘They learn from each other as friends in the playground, they talk about things and we also have an international week where each class chooses a country from within the community.’
She added: ‘It’s about celebrating not just the differences but also the similarities – the kids all have quite similar likes and dislikes, hobbies and favourite activities.’
The school was rated as ‘requiring improvement’ by Ofsted in 2018 but has since been ranked among the top 2% in the Department for Education’s performance tables and is awaiting a new inspection.
Paula said: ‘Having children come into the school who don’t speak any English – reading or writing – I think it makes us very innovative in how we look at supporting every child.
‘Because we’re such a small school, we don’t see them as classes or year groups, we see them as individuals. We look at each of them and think, how can we help that person improve and develop.
‘At the same time while we’re helping these children, we might say this ‘actually this might help another child who say has been here since reception but is struggling,’ they can make progress as well.’
The latest figures show that across the UK more than 300 different languages are spoken in British schools and around 20% of pupils use English as an additional language.
Paula said all the children at Water Mill seemed to cherish the diversity of the place.
‘One of the children said the school was wonderful, that it has so many people from different countries and we’re like the United Nations,’ she said.
‘I thought it summed up our school, because we’re united. We have so many different countries represented but they’re united together, as were not separate entities, it’s not “them and us”, it’s a community.
‘I think that really sums up the school – a small, friendly community.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8291209 https://ift.tt/3A56vbc
No comments:
Post a Comment