UK: The primary school where every child learns to speak 40 languages

[Francis Hult]

The Independent

 

The primary school where every child learns to speak 40 languages

 

If this is March, it must be Nepali. Welcome to Newbury Park Primary School in Redbridge, north-east London, where its 850 pupils will have learnt phrases in 40 languages by the time they transfer to secondary school.

 

The school has adopted a policy of teaching each language spoken by the 40 ethnic groups among its pupils. "It was more out of politeness," said Joe Debono, who runs the "language of the month" programme. "You have 250 Tamil children in the school. It is just polite to greet them in their own language and recognise their culture. And it is a way of celebrating the ethnic diversity of the school and not seeing it as a problem."

 

The scheme has tangible benefits, he explained, as it can help children who may be refugees to overcome the sense of alienation they might feel in a new school. It may also encourage pupils to study in more depth one of the languages they have encountered at Newbury Park when they transfer to secondary school, where language learning is compulsory for 11 to 14-year-olds.

 

Full story:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/the-primary-school-where-every-child-learns-to-speak-40-languages-793716.html

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