Case Study

Introduction

Sarah Bonnell School, founded in 1796, is one of the oldest girls’ schools in the UK. It is located in the heart of the East End near Stratford station, at the hub of the transport system for 2012 and is the nearest school to the Olympic site. Current
Year 7 pupils are excited at the prospect of being able to use their language skills in support of the Olympic Games.

There are 1184 pupils, aged 11-16, who come from a wide range of communities and over 100 different languages are spoken by the girls at home. In an inspection of Maths & Citizenship in 2006, Ofsted commented, 'The school has a very inclusive ethos' and this sense of welcome and equality is tangible when you visit the school.

A commitment to language learning

In 2003 Sarah Bonnell gained specialist status as a Language College, but it has a particular take on MFL as a subject area, which the school’s website refers to rather as 'World languages'. A greeting of the month is used by all departments, pupils and teachers alike, to celebrate the diversity of languages. One of the school’s stated aims is 'to be recognised as a centre of excellence for teaching and learning in World Languages' so there is no distinction made between languages as either 'community' or 'non-community' languages in the curriculum offer, which comprises Bengali, Mandarin, and Urdu as well as French, German, Italian and Spanish. In Key Stage 3 pupils have a free choice of second language. There are also lunch-time clubs which teach Arabic, Farsi, Gujarati and Yoruba and allow girls to enjoy cultural activities. The Yoruba club was proving very popular with Bengali pupils on the day of our visit.

A key factor in the evident success of the languages curriculum is the commitment of senior management to language learning. Cauthar Maryam Latif Tooley, is an enthusiastic linguist herself and is denoted as 'Headlearner' as well as 'Headteacher'; she is the Arabic teacher and clearly an important role model for pupils. The Director of the Language College, Mike Reynolds, is also an Assistant Headteacher, whilst Morteza Etemadi, the Head of Mathematics, teaches Farsi. From next year Arabic will be added as a full curriculum subject.

The message that language skills are for everyone is made concrete by the contribution to this ethos by staff from a range of curriculum areas. Accordingly Yoruba is taught by a science teacher, the Bengali teacher teaches French, an ICT teacher also offers Arabic, and the Head of English teaches French. Unqualified staff are supported in gaining full teacher status. Katye Wang, the Mandarin teacher, is a former learning assistant at Sarah Bonnell who is currently taking the Overseas Trained Teachers (OTT) route to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through London Metropolitan University. A Gujarati club is taught by a current learning assistant who is supported by the Head of Languages, Sinead Earnley.

The Headteacher explained her vision as the desire to 'equalize status' and promote 'proper esteem'. She saw language as the most personal aspect of culture in that it encapsulates one’s value system. When pupils learn their own language, their self-esteem is boosted and their individuality confirmed.

Equal opportunities

Sarah Bonnell school's commitment to internationalism enhances its embrace of equal opportunities. The school is involved in exciting British Council projects: pupils attend the Arabic immersion courses held in Bahrain and a link has been established between Sarah Bonnell and a girls’ school in Yemen. In May 2008 ten pupils are going to China.

At weekends the school welcomes supplementary/complementary schools in Russian and Somali. Cauthar Tooley is keen to reach out to the Somali community and hopes that contact can be made with the project hub school in Lambeth, South London, where Somali pupils this year have been successfully accredited through the Asset languages scheme.

About the School