[eal-bilingual] New arrivals network

I have just been writing an article on the network for the next Naldic
Quarterly.  It has been interesting trying to get a view of the community
over time.  It clearly has been useful to colleagues who know about it.
Message volumes suggest that anyway as do conversations I have had with
BECTA in the past.  There is also the TES EMAG staffroom at
http://www.tes.co.uk/section/staffroom/list_threads.aspx?path=%2femag%2f
which has a more mainstream feel. 

On the DCSF Ethnicity, Social Class and Achievement(ESCA) /New Arrivals
network,
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/jiveforums/category.jspa?categoryID=22
the set up of that forum suggests there is a moderation in the process of
enrolment, compared to this one which is open to all and unmoderated. I'm
sure that the DCSF forum will, in time, generate its own 'feel' and perhaps
shouldn't necessarily be viewed as competition. My own view is that with
just under 800,000 EAL/bilingual pupils enrolled in primary and secondary
schools as at January 2007, a multiplicity of places for practitioners to
talk/learn/share about this has to be a good thing. 
Nicola