Case Study

Introduction

CEDF is a registered charity providing community access to social services, educational and health services for adults and schoolchildren in the West Midlands. It is mainly funded by local Panjabi-speaking businesses and individuals who want to put something back into the community.

Hamstead Hall is a comprehensive school and one of six schools in Birmingham with a Special Needs Unit, catering for 45 students with moderate learning difficulties. In September 2000 it became a Specialist Sports College and in 2004 gained a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing. In 2005, the school was the top mixed sports college out of 1,838 schools in the UK for value added from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4.

Arrangement for a Community Languages Complementary School

Free Panjabi lessons are provided by CEDF at Hamstead Hall on Saturdays: 6 classes in the mornings and 3 in the afternoon. There are currently 198 students in attendance. Maximum class size is 20, with 16 being the average. The maintained school freely provides the premises and use of classroom facilities. CEDF receives £1,500 in annual funding from Birmingham Local Authority which helps cover teachers’ salaries.

CEDF also runs complementary schools with little or no direct collaboration at:
Erdington – Panjabi, Tuesdays 6-7.30pm
Small Heath Community Centre – Panjabi, Sundays 10-12am
Hall Green South Birmingham Main site - Panjabi Institute of Knowledge and History, Wednesdays 5-7.30pm

History of the Project

Hamstead Hall and CEDF started working together in 2002 when CEDF provided financial support for after-school and weekend revision classes for students at the school. In 2003, a trustee of CEDF, also a school governor, was approached by the Deputy Head to start weekend community Panjabi classes. Greston Primary school was also interested in getting involved as part of the community link since most students went on to Hamstead Hall from here.

While the project was initiated by the school, parents saw the need for Panjabi provision at primary level and for better quality teaching in the existing GCSE classes at Hamstead Hall. They also wanted their children to reconnect with Panjabi culture, learn the language of their family, as well as improve communication skills for mainstream learning.

Monitoring Progress

The Saturday Complementary School is managed with the professionalism of a maintained school. Parents are issued with ground rules at enrolment, attendance is monitored and letters are sent to parents if students do not attend or if lessons are not taken seriously.

Curriculum planning and development and quality control is rigorous. Gurjit has been an experienced Panjabi exam writer, examiner and teacher for many years and both he and Rajvir have a City & Guilds in Community Adult Teaching.

CEDF employs teachers who have a passion and enthusiasm for teaching Panjabi. The preference is for people with teaching experience or qualifications or those en route to Qualified Teacher Status. Teachers must undergo CRB checks and attend annual training sessions organised by Birmingham Local Authority. Each teacher works from a full portfolio including schemes of work, lesson plans and resources. Meetings are held once a term to review the curriculum, procedures etc.

Classes range from Entry level (equivalent to Key Stage 1 & 2) up to GCSE. Ages are generally from 6 to 16 with some at age 18. The framework is based on the National Curriculum with adaptations from French and German and is broken down into levels devised by CEDF.

The assessment procedure is as follows: initial assessment, regular progress tests and final assessments in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing.

Successes

The collaboration with Hamstead Hall, which has embraced the relationship, has proved to be the main success. Regular meetings are held and the headmaster is invited to the Annual Prize Giving ceremony. A noticeboard dedicated to the Saturday classes hangs in Reception and someone is always available to provide information.

A Panjabi Day for Year 9 students is being organised by the Head of Languages and CEDF in recognition of the success of the complementary school and to raise awareness of language and culture amongst non-Panjabi speakers.

There has also been enrichment in the Panjabi community through the growing links with parents. This has enabled CEDF to feel comfortable about approaching parents over issues such as poor attendance. Grandparents also appreciate their grandchildren speaking to them in their native tongue.

Through feedback, parents report improvements in their children’s general self-confidence. One example was given of a boy who was bullied at college, but after gaining a sense of inclusion from attending Panjabi classes his new confidence helped him reach university.

The retention rate is 88.8% and attendance levels are very good as students enjoy the classes. High student recruitment numbers are thanks to the good reputation of the school and word of mouth recommendations. Often parents prefer the CEDF course over those in the Gurdwara temple because of the level of organisation and professionalism. The course also attracts interest from people of non-Panjabi background such as Hindi speakers and a Polish student.

While most students do not come from Hamstead Hall, the Panjabi project provides good PR for the school. If primary children subsequently attend Hamstead Hall secondary, they come armed with familiarity with the environment and premises.

Challenges

The main issue is sourcing enough funding from individual and business donors to cover the costs of growing classes and teachers’ salaries. The other issue is recruiting enough teachers who are qualified and available for one and half hours on a Saturday. Adverts did not work so CEDF rely on word of mouth to find the right teachers.

The future

The plan is to extend the provision to GCSE level Panjabi and to open a class for adults. There is interest from the West Indian community and from third generation parents who want to develop their speaking and listening skills. Panjabi is now the main focus of CEDF, but later this year it will be opening its own learning centre in Hockley offering a range of educational and recreational projects including further Panjabi classes.

About the Schools