Partnership teaching to support new arrivals

School: A large urban primary school in London

This school is one of the largest primary schools in the country with 874 children on roll. It serves an area of considerable economic and social deprivation. A significant minority of children are asylum seekers and refugees, which contributes to the much higher than average number of children joining or leaving the school at other than the usual times.

The school is a multilingual multi-ethnic school, rich in cultural and linguistic diversity where two out of three children speak English as an additional language (EAL). There is a high level of mobility among families within the school, mainly due to the surrounding temporary accommodation. Approximately 88% of the school population is from a minority ethnic group (overall borough figure: 58%) and 66% of children are learning EAL. Within these groups, 115 children are refugees or asylum-seekers. A total of 56 languages are spoken in the school of which Turkish, Somali and Albanian are the main ones.

The school believes that the most effective use of the ethnic minority achievement grant (EMAG) funding is to provide teachers who are able to contribute directly and significantly to the curriculum through their input into curriculum planning for inclusion, partnership teaching and assessment. The ethnic minority achievement (EMA) team is considered to be an integral part of the school, and all members are involved in carrying out assessments of new arrivals and developing resources.

'At the heart of its work is an extremely successful commitment to welcoming and including all children whatever their background or ability. This is widely recognised by parents who hold the school in high regard. One, representing the views of many, commented, "I am proud to have my child attend this school. Staff work outstandingly well with a range of outside agencies to ensure that children are all exceptionally well cared for. This is particularly true of the many vulnerable children that arrive on a regular basis, sometimes with little or no English."'(Ofsted 2007)