Case Study

Introduction

The Malaysian School of Manchester was established in 1982 and has 52 students. The aim of the school is to provide primary level education in the Malay language, Maths and Islamic studies to Malaysian children. Students and families come to Manchester from Malaysia to study a degree programme (Degree, Master and PhD) for four years. The Malaysian school helps support Malaysian children in adapting themselves to the school environment of maintained schools and to provide tuition for high school pupils who take Malay at IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) level. The school is a recognised exam centre for Malay.

The partnership

The school works in partnership with Abraham Moss High School who allow the school to use their premises on Saturdays. Abraham Moss High School also registers the Malaysian School children to sit the IGCSE exams and administers all the entries through their Exams Officer and pays the costs. The Malaysian school wanted to work in partnership with a maintained school in order to gain teaching skills and experience as similar teaching strategies will help the children who attend the Malaysian school.

The partnership was established six years ago. In the early stages of the collaborative work, the Assistant Head of Abraham Moss was part of the steering committee of the Malaysian school. However, as the years have gone by this is no longer needed. The Malaysian school has used Abraham Moss premises each year to sit the Malay exams, but this year, because the number of students taking the exam is only two, the exam will take place in Birmingham.

The partnership has been facilitated by the Diversity and Inclusion team (Children’s services) at Manchester City Council, who are also part of the Malaysian school’s steering committee. They have acted as mediators between the headteachers and offered guidance to both parties based on the Supplementary Schools Quality Assurance and Monitoring Scheme which has enhanced the partnership. This facilitation came naturally as the Council was already working closely with both parties as the partnership took form. The aim of this work is to showcase the benefits complementary education can provide to pupils and the greater community as a whole. However, it was always important that both schools took ownership of the collaborative work – which they did at an early stage.

There are no plans at this stage to develop the partnership any further, as both parties seem content with the way their collaborative work is going.

Impact

It is hard to measure what impact the partnership has had on students attending the school, as most of them return to Malaysia after the 4 year period has ended. However, the students who have taken the IGCSE exams over the years have done very well. All students have also been accepted at local Universities in their home country.

Challenges

• Even though teachers are eligible to teach Malay they don’t have much teaching experience of the British Education System. The Malaysian school would have liked to see more cooperation with Abraham Moss High School with regards to helping teachers become more experienced.
• One problem within the Malaysian school is the turnover of staff with teachers frequently changing which allows for little continuity of teaching projects.

Successes

• Accommodation to sit the exam has been provided by Abraham Moss each year without fail.
• The Malaysian school has become a recognised exam centre for the Malay language

Future plans

The Malaysian School would like to appoint a Malay teacher who is responsible for liaising with the High School directly as it would help the Malaysian school with their work and it would benefit the students. This teacher would also be in charge of the IGCSE exams each year.

Malaysian school background

Most children are highly motivated and attain high academic standards in the mainstream schools. The overall ethos of the school is to encourage the children’s use of their mother tongue to enhance their learning experience. Pupils are regularly rewarded with certificates and stickers for hard work.

About the School