Case Study

Introduction

The Anglo Spanish Nursery School Limited (ASNS) is a private Day Nursery founded in 1998 and run by Gloria Gómez and Brian Ransom. 52 children of a diverse range of communities are cared for per session. The aim of the nursery is to foster bilingualism and to provide children with cultural awareness and sensitivity from a very early age. Spanish/Latin American culture is promoted by having a majority of Spanish mother tongue teachers and through the provision of Spanish lessons. Other cultures are also celebrated and children from diverse backgrounds learn from and play with each other. Children do not necessarily speak any Spanish before starting. The nursery offers a total immersion bilingual setting with the hope that children will gain awareness, tolerance and cultural sensitivity towards all other people.

Fostering plurilingualism in a multicultural setting

The nursery attracts children from all over London and children of any cultural background are welcome. Currently the children attending are of French, English, German, Spanish, Columbian, Venezuelan, Rumanian, North American and African descent. The children receive lessons in Spanish until the age of three. They then receive lessons in both Spanish and English until they leave the nursery at age five. Generally, children enter the nursery at 18 months with the ability to speak and understand one or two languages. When they leave, after about three years of bilingual education, every child is fluent in at least two languages as well as any additional languages that they arrived with. The children communicate with one another in a number of different languages, depending on their ability to speak and understand various languages and, to some extent, end up teaching each other. Teachers at the nursery who only speak one language also manage to learn from the children who are attending and since they initially only speak one language, children must find a way to communicate with them in the target language or through other means.

Community Cohesion

Gloria is also very involved in politics and the community. She is a member of the National Independent Advice Group (NIAG) for the British Transport Police and offers the nursery as a placement for BTP trainees to carry out their requirement to complete one week of community service. She feels that if future police officers can see how teachers work and the challenges they face then they will have a better understanding of cases relating to teachers and childcare. When asked how this fits in with the aims of the nursery, Gloria explained,

‘Being a community leader, it is my responsibility to provide children with languages and awareness of different cultures and backgrounds so that when they get older they will have more tolerance and cultural sensitivity.’

She explains that bilingual children are ‘better behaved, more tolerant towards others’ cultural backgrounds and languages and have great aptitude for learning faster than other children who are monolingual. On the other hand, though, those children who learn different languages at early ages do demand more attention.’

‘Children, from a very young age, accept everybody, they do not have prejudices. They learn prejudice from adults. Children [at the nursery] are aware that Spanish is not their language or English is not their first language but they are very adaptable.’

Having run the nursery in the same community for 10 years, Gloria has been able to continue to see some of the children who attended the nursery as they grow up. She points to the case of one girl with Jamaican background who is now 12 years old. She says,

‘she loves the Spanish language and people even though she does not speak the language very well, but she understands everything. She knows where their parents come from and she is more tolerant to people of all backgrounds.’

Popularity with parents

The popularity of the nursery is evidenced by the long waiting list of parents wanting to register their children as well as by its international renown. The nursery has had applications for registration from parents as far away as Brussels and New York. Gloria explains that she is proud of the model for a bilingual nursery and is happy for people to copy it as long as they do a good job of it. As far as she knows, the model has been replicated only once at the Peques nursery in Fulham.

Spanish as a community language

Children from Latin American and Spanish backgrounds who attend the nursery are treated just like other children. They learn Spanish until the age of three and are then introduced to English lessons until they leave the nursery at five years of age.

Plans for the future

Gloria is also very involved with Lambeth Council on issues relating to education. She would like to work with the council to improve the education system, particularly to ensure there is strong quality assurance so that every child receives the same standard of education whatever their social class.

She also believes that England is too monolingual. 'Foreigners are focussed on London and learning English, but it needs to be reciprocal. England speaks of human rights and a desire to attract people from all over the world…there is a need for customer service, for mutual understanding. What is needed for this is languages.'

About the School