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 nationalities 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

Children from all over London, from French, English, German, Spanish, Columbian, and Venezuelan as well as other backgrounds attend the nursery. They are all given lessons only in Spanish until the age of three. The reason for this is that English is the dominant language for 80-90 per cent of children attending the nursery. Children aged 3 to 5 receive both Spanish and English lessons as part of their care. Children are first taught plenty of vocabulary using songs, games, the alphabet and even maths and covering a wide rage of subjects. Grammar is added in later along with spelling. While most children arrive at the nursery at about 18 months to 2 years with one or two languages, after three years of care, every child leaves with fluency in at least two languages, if not three or four. During their time at the nursery children often teach each other as they attempt to communicate in various languages. This happens with all languages and not only Spanish and English.

Early language learning

When the nursery opened in 1998, the youngest children accepted for enrolment were 18 months. In September 2007, the nursery began taking toddlers aged 12-14 months, who are able to walk. Since they started taking toddlers and immersing them in a bilingual environment staff at the nursery have noticed a great difference in the abilities of children of various ages. What they have noticed is that children that begin to attend the nursery at a younger age (12-14 months) adapt quicker to the environment, cry less, and even learn more quickly than those at 18 months. Gloria encourages parents to bring their children at an early age, arguing that it is important to begin a child’s language education early since 80 per cent of what a child learns is before the age of 7. For this reason, early language learning, even before primary school, needs to be given greater importance and support from the government.

Getting parents involved

Parents of children attending the nursery have a very good relationship with Gloria and the rest of the staff. There is a Parents’ Association which meets regularly to discuss their children’s care. They are offered the use of the nursery’s premises for their meetings. When they have feedback to give this is discussed openly with the management and staff. As Gloria puts it:

'we treat the children as if they were our own and we want to ensure that every child does well. We are happy to take constructive criticism as long as we are working together for the child.'

Constructive criticism goes both ways, however. Gloria also provides advice for parents. For instance, with bilingual parents, she encourages them to speak both languages with the child and not just English.

Gloria explained that one of the reasons that parents bring their children to the Anglo-Spanish nursery is that young parents today have realised that a lack of language skills can act as a barrier in their lives and careers. By ensuring that their children are brought up bilingual, parents hope that they will be less likely to face the same barriers.

It is clear when one enters the nursery that it is a very loving, happy and secure environment for the children. Parents are not only concerned with their children’s early education, but also with their well-being, which encompasses a secure and loving environment, healthy food, and a multicultural environment with multiple languages.

Plans for the future

The Anglo-Spanish Nursery has plans to expand to the second floor of the building and increase their capacity to 70 children. Since there are currently quite a few French-speaking children at the nursery it is currently under consideration to employ a French teacher to start up French lessons.

Gloria hopes that the government will recognise the unique work that the nursery carries out and see them as an example for early childhood education. When asked why she believes children benefit from a bilingual education at such an early age, she explained that, 'Children benefit because today our children are competing with the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. They compete with their education, degrees, and also languages. England is too monolingual, yet England, and particularly London is a city of the world. We cannot compete with just English when most investors are foreigners. We need to help England to not be monolingual.'

About the School