Counting them in: new book aims to help children
| Published: 5th September 2008 20:52 |
Ensuring children whose first language is not English do not feel isolated at school is the inspiration behind a new book being launched by staff from Hampshire County Council's Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service.
Counting Them In: isolated bilingual learners in schools has been written by staff from the service and is being launched at a special event at Winchester's Great Hall on 8 September.
Liz Statham, head of the service edited the book and hopes it will inspire teachers and others who work with children, across the county and beyond, to share best practices and ensure that children who do not have English as a first language are not disadvantaged in their learning and development.
She believes that while no institution intentionally seeks to isolate a particular group children and young people can feel isolated if their educational and cultural background is not reflected in their school or college. Hampshire County Council schools are working hard to ensure children do not feel isolated and increasingly there are good levels of support for children who have English as an additional language. This book aims to help all those who work with children by sharing examples of good inclusive practice.
Hampshire County Council is leading the way in excellent inclusion practices having created the specialist Ethnic Minority Achievement Service in 1992 which has now been extended to include Travelling communities. In the 1990s there were just 100 bilingual learners in Hampshire schools now in any one year there are as many as 1000 new arrivals referred to the EMA service. The service offers specialist support in schools and to the wider community.
The county council's schools are also playing their part. One example is Fairfields Junior school which has played a leading role in the national New Arrivals Excellence programme with specially trained staff and a young interpreter scheme where pupils act as mentors to new children helping them to settle in.
The book also highlights measures such as taking an holistic approach to inclusion which recognises the important role parents, teachers, learning support assistants, school admin staff, personal and careers advisers and local authority staff all have in ensuring children do not feel isolated within their school and wider communities. Other examples of best practice include: encouraging teachers to consider the language requirements of lessons and consider using visual aids such as photos, symbols, diagrams to aid pupil understanding; induction courses to support smoother transition into education in the UK to equip children and young people with key language and study skills; and skills for life courses run by some colleges which teach young people about citizenship issues to help them integrate alongside teaching of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills.
Teachers, teaching assistants and other professionals who work with children and young people have been invited to the book launch which will be attended by Hampshire County Council's Executive Lead member for Children's Services, Councillor David Kirk, John Coughlan, Hampshire County Council's Director of Children's Services and John Clarke, the County Council's Deputy Director Children's Services, Education and Inclusion.
Commenting on the book Councillor David Kirk, Hampshire County Council's Executive lead member for Children's Services, said:
"This book is a fine example of the wealth of expertise and experience which our Children's Services staff bring to their jobs and share with colleagues in schools and in our locality teams. The sharing of good practices such as those featured in the book will help to ensure that children and young people whose first language is not English do not feel isolated and can share in the educational and personal development opportunities available at school and in the wider community. I think it will be an invaluable manual for those who work with children and young people."
What do you think?
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
