Free schools
Bilingual free schools – money well spent?
Since the government launched its free schools scheme several applications have been made for bilingual primary schools. Maria Anguita looks at some of these proposals and discusses how a bilingual curriculum can benefit pupils
in primary schools are making the most of the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) free schools initiative by presenting their own bids for bilingual schools. For example, the Deutche Bilingual Primary School proposes to
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teach a curriculum balanced between German and English. While its bid is still in the consultation stages, if successful the school would open in Southwark, London, in September 2012. The founders of the school propose that the Deutsche Bilingual Primary School will be a non-denominational primary free school teaching reception through to year 6, from all backgrounds. In order to provide the children with the highest levels of attention and tuition, the founders are suggesting class sizes of only 20-25. Under the free schools scheme, schools can be set up in response to
demand within a local area for a greater variety of schools, therefore before any proposal can be submitted to the DfE enough interest must be generated within the local population. According to the DfE, so far eight proposals to set up free schools have now progressed from business case and plan stage to the pre-opening stage. However, none of these approved proposals yet include a bilingual school, although there are several proposals currently going through the approval system.
ollowing the government’s decision to shelve the statutory implementation of languages into the national curriculum, parents concerned at the lack of language skills provision
The Deutche Bilingual Primary School has so far received the support
of 157 families, representing 225 school-age children, and there are at least three other proposals in the pipeline for bilingual schools under the free schools scheme. In Sussex, the first free bilingual school could open next year if plans
get the go-ahead. A group of parents, carers and teachers have applied for funding to set up an English/Spanish free school in Brighton and Hove. The Bilingual Primary School Project would provide an education following the national curriculum for children aged four to 11, using the Dual Language Instruction method whereby 50 per cent of the lessons will be imparted in Spanish and the other 50 per cent in English. The aim, according to founding member Silvia Taylor, is for children to learn and develop their fundamental academic skills through dual-language immersion not just in core subjects but also through school activities, play and in everyday conversations.
“It’s not just about language skills, but about cultural understanding too”
Similarly, there are plans to open a French-English bilingual primary
school in the London Bridge area. The planned opening date is September 2012. The school would offer 180 places, and its founders hope to receive at least a £1.2 million annual budget from the coalition’s free school initiative. This school would be for both English and French- speaking children. In all of these cases, the impetus for setting up these schools is the lack of suitable primary school provision locally or oversubscription
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