Recent migration waves into Europe have created significant problem, and in particular for schools, who have the responsibility for both integrating migrant pupils and ensuring their education. In 2015-16 alone, Europe received more than 750,000 migrant children with diverse linguistic backgrounds and experiences with formal education. Many schools face the challenge of integrating newly migrant pupils and in particular engaging with the local communities if language is a barrier. This project brings together 6 partners from 5 countries, all of which have faced different types of migration. It aims to overcome these issues by training up a team of ‘Young Interpreters’ in the Primary School sector to use their languages in the “official” school environment. It will exploit formally the potential that exists within each school community for bi- and multi-lingual pupils to use their skills, develop their leadership skills and will also facilitate peer learning. By supporting new learners of the country’s language, they are more likely to feel safe, settled and valued from the start and this will speed up their integration. The identified Young Interpreters will undergo specific training to prepare for this role and will be selected on the basis of their personal qualities. Their skills can also support school staff in a variety of ways at different points during the school day. The project will explore the opportunities for improving the engagement of parents who feel excluded because of language barriers, through both attendance at school events but also through non-formal activities such as a coffee mornings or sharing of extra-curricular activities. The focus of this Strategic Partnership is to support a transfer of good practices with the aim of developing a model of how to exploit the bi- and multilingual skills of young pupils in the Primary sector in order to: • develop a framework of challenges to develop a scheme of ‘young interpreters’ • create a recognition system for their skills • support the inclusion and linguistic development of newly arrived migrants • support the inclusion of families in the education of their children The project addresses the Horizontal Priorities of… • supporting the development of basic skills and key competences – in particular language and critical thinking • social inclusion, through supporting integration into the school system and accessibility of parents who feel excluded by language barriers and the Erasmus+ School Priorities of… • promoting a comprehensive approach to language learning by building on the language diversity in schools and supporting the integration of the language dimension across the curriculum • tackling disadvantage by including children with a migrant background and strengthening collaboration with families The objectives of the project are to: • identify up to 20 priority communication needs for newly arrived migrant pupils and their parents • create an outline scheme of ‘young interpreter’ challenges to exploit the bi- and multi-lingual skills of existing pupils • create a set of training materials to support the ‘young interpreter’ scheme • create an accreditation system of badges to recognise achievement of the ‘challenges’ • recruit 120 young interpreters in 5 countries in up to 10 languages • pilot, test, evaluate and refine the training and accreditation in 2 schools in each of 5 countries • identify and use tools to evaluate impact, including data and feedback from students, teachers and parents • create a set of case studies from each country • disseminate the outcomes widely and build a network of interested bodies and the specific outputs will be: • A project website hosting resources and case studies • A report on the 20 top priority needs of newly-arrived migrant pupils in the context of their school and host country • A model ‘young interpreter’ scheme of work based on those needs in terms of challenges - this will be at three levels of complexity and badges • A model three level accreditation scheme in the form of badges which rewards the achievement of the challenges • A set of training modules for teachers and non-teaching staff working with the young interpreters as assessors supported by an online handbook • A set of case studies demonstrating the programme in action in each of the 5 countries • An impact report • A set of dissemination materials and seminars in 5 countries • An exploitation plan
The specific objectives of the project were to: • identify up to 20 priority communication needs for newly arrived migrant pupils and their parents • create an outline scheme of ‘young interpreter’ challenges to exploit the bi- and multi-lingual skills of existing pupils • create a set of training materials to support the ‘young interpreter’ scheme • create an accreditation system of badges to recognise achievement of the ‘challenges’ • recruit young interpreters in 5 countries in up to 10 languages • pilot, test, evaluate and refine the training and accreditation in schools in each of 5 countries • evaluate the impact of the scheme • create case studies from each country • disseminate the outcomes widely and build a network of interested bodies
This project was inspired by a visit that took place in a previous project 2017-1-UK01-KA201-036591, Developing European Values in the Primary School. During a TPM in Greece, we visited a refugee camp and the Primary School that served it. It hosted a wide mix of nationalities and ages, but one of the most impressive features was the way in which the pupils supported one another, and in particular with their language needs. Some pupils showed real leadership skills in interpreting for their peers. The perception in many schools is that pupils who don’t have the language of their country as a first language are in some way weaker ,and in many cases are identified as having Special Needs, whereas the opposite is frequently the case, where migrant pupils are bi- or multi-lingual. This project set out to recognize the skills of such pupils and to create an accreditation scheme. It also aimed to address a pan-European issue of recent migration waves into Europe, which have created significant problems, for schools, who at the forefront of both integrating migrant pupils and ensuring their education. Many schools face the challenge of integrating newly migrant pupils and engaging with the local communities if language is a barrier. This project aimed to address both the language and integration needs. It recognises that by supporting new learners of the country’s language, they are more likely to feel safe, settled and valued from the start and this will speed up their integration. The project has developed a methodology to support schools in overcoming these issues by training up a team of ‘Young Interpreters’ in the Primary School sector. It formally exploits the potential that exists within each school community for bi- and multi-lingual pupils to use their skills, develop their leadership skills and facilitate peer learning.