A child whose family has just moved from a different country with a completely different culture but, most frighteningly, an environment where everyone speaks, writes and learns in a language which the child cannot understand.
This happens daily in South Africa and in order to try and assist these children and their families, Bishop Bavin School devised an academic plan. From there the Bishop Bavin Language School was born.
Initially, like many South African schools, Bishop Bavin School was receiving applications on a daily basis from children who had just arrived in our country but could not communicate effectively in English.
Instead of declining these children, we felt it would be more appropriate to offer them a solution.
The solution was not simple and the challenges faced to create the Language School had to be ironed out carefully.
The aim of the Language School is to equip foreign speakers with conversational English skills and the writing skills that will assist them in being integrated, once they are deemed ready, to enter the mainstream College or Preparatory School.
Pupils are accepted into the Language School but are integrated into a variety of mainstream classes. They are encouraged to participate in the extra-curricular activities of the school, thus integrating with the whole school. Once they are confident enough, they are invited to write the entrance tests in order to be fully integrated into the mainstream timetable.
However, even after integration, continuous support is offered from the Language School until the pupil is fully independent.
Our original approach was to focus on continuous language teaching only, yet we found that our Language School pupils needed to interact with our mainstream pupils in order to practise what we were teaching. They also needed exposure to subject terminology in order to equip them academically.
This led us to follow a partially integrated approach whereby the Language School pupils are required to register for five mainstream subjects. This ensures the required exposure to terminology, but also highlights the problem areas for our children, so that we can ensure the correct support is put in place.
This model has proven to be the most effective and as Jordy van Dyk, a grade 7 pupil from the DRC, explained “I have always felt a part of Bishop Bavin School and not just the Language School because I am able to participate in activities and other subjects. I also believe that without the Language School, I would have very little confidence in my English abilities.”
Michel Lala, a grade 6 Mozambican pupil, said that since being in South Africa, he has struggled with English and his marks were quite low. He said the Language School has given him the confidence to try harder and to work harder. He feels he is improving every day.
Wanda Xue, a grade 10 Chinese pupil, emphasised how the Language School has made a difference in his life: “They give you a lot of work in order to make you practise your language, but this opens our minds and prepares us for our other academic lessons.”
For Bishop Bavin School, it is not only the focus on language that matters but more importantly providing an environment for the foreign language child which is not intimidating. Our pupils with immigrant status are offered a choice between English Home Language or English First Additional Language, as well as an option of French, Chinese or Portuguese as a second language.
Our non-immigrant status pupils have to do English Home Language but their choice of First Additional Language is wide because Bishop Bavin offers any one of the following; Afrikaans, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Setswana and SeSotho. Languages form an important part of a strong academic programme at our school.
At Bishop Bavin School, we do believe that academic performance is important, but so is developing a well-rounded and confident young person.
Most of the Language School children said that when they arrived, they felt nervous and confused because they could not understand what was going on around them. It was then up to Wayne Ingram and Ettienne de Vos to put these children at ease.
They always have to ensure with any new pupil that begins at the school, that a relationship of trust is developed and that the pupils do not feel vulnerable.
The environment created is different from a general classroom situation and is often viewed as a more relaxed environment, but all of the pupils have agreed that it is the most conducive to the type of learning that has to take place. The children are exposed to games, puzzles, and a wide variety of “off-the-wall” teaching methods.
They are encouraged to be themselves and to develop relationships with the other children in the class.
Our Language School caters for Preparatory School and College children. Our more junior applicants are immersed immediately into the classroom.
These children have embraced each other’s cultural backgrounds and, in fact, started teaching each other their own home languages such as Mandarin, French and Portuguese. They have made this environment their own and they have become confident enough to make mistakes rather than just keep silent.
Wayne and Ettienne are experienced TESOL teachers with more than five years’ experience each, of teaching in Asia. They are well aware of the challenges faced by these foreign speakers and liaise continuously with subject specific teachers to ensure that the required support is offered to the children. The focus of the Language School teachers is not only to equip the foreign language speakers with the ability to speak English, but also to assist them in adapting to a foreign culture.
We are proud of the work achieved in our first year as a Language School and the growth among our first group of children has been phenomenal. It has been a privilege to work with these children and to watch how our South African children welcome and integrate with them. Bishop Bavin School has truly embraced our culturally diverse community and all of our children will be equipped with respect and the ability to work with people of all cultural backgrounds.
As with any new venture, it has to be nurtured and tweaked and we have room for growth. Our goal is in two years, to be recognised as the first choice of school for foreign pupils and to ensure that modern teaching programmes are implemented. Our language school teachers are currently developing electronic practice programmes which will allow Language School children a focussed approach in conquering their subject specific language problems.
With passionate staff on board and with children who are enthusiastic and dedicated, this is a system that should never fail. Every single one of the children in the Language School, when asked whether they would change anything about their first year at Bishop Bavin, all agreed they would change nothing.
n Compiled by the Language School and Marketing.
