[eal-bilingual] Recording more than one language

Colleagues

Our SIMS team has confirmed that while there are two fields currently (the first language is what census and CTF collect. The home language is a very condensed lookup which can be edited) their understanding is that the home language field will eventually become obsolete. If people need to collect
several home languages the alterative way is user defined fields. The team is currently setting these up in all our schools.

Sara

Sara Green
Head of Language Development Service
Family and Children's Services
Isaac Newton Centre
108a Lancaster Road
London W11 1QS

Email: sara.green at rbkc.gov.uk
Direct line: 020 7598 4817
Fax: 020 7598 4808
Website: www.rbkc.gov.uk   
LDS 14-19 website: www.rbkc.gov.uk/eal14to19

-----Original Message-----
From: eal-bilingual-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk [mailto:eal-bilingual-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of CATHARINE DRIVER
Sent: 26 January 2008 18:38
To: stuart.scott; For practitioners involved in teaching pupils from ethnic andlinguistic minorities
Subject: Re: [eal-bilingual] Recording more than one language

Yes I've come across some of these problems too. 
  However, SIMS can record two languages. I think it has a section for home language and another for mother tongue. I cannot however, put in 3 languages. 

  We still find SIMS cannot record some of the more obscure languages, but you can customise it to do so. It's just that when you get a new language it's never seen before that the data manager has to alter the field or something.
  Our system didn't like Thai, Mongolian, Oromo and Malayalam this year for example!

  From what I remember the DCSF think that if one parent speaks English and the child has been speaking English at home, she cannot then be EAL- but I just ignore this and record whatever home language is spoken as well as English and no one has complained yet!

  Generally  the inputting of data is only as good as the admission form, so the onus on schools is to get that right first. 

  Catharine

"stuart.scott" <stuart.scott at collaborativelearning.org> wrote:
  I was in a school yesterday where a group of new arrivals were being put on the school data system.Two of them had parents who had different first languages and the children had acquired both. The school used Integris and there was only apparent space on the system to record one language. I think
that if schools use SIMS there is a way in which both languages can be recorded.

Some questions.

Are you giving guidance to schools about recording their languages?

Are you encouraging them to record more than one language?

Have you encountered a two/three... language issue?

Are schools recording languages arbitrarily e.g. from the language of the father only/the mother only?

If a child has an English father and consequently an English sounding family name but speaks another language, is this getting recorded?

Stuart

Collaborative Learning Project, 17 Barford Street, London N1 0QB A network of teaching professionals developing and disseminating accessible talk-for-learning teaching materials in all subject areas and for all ages.
Telephone: 0044 (0)207 226 8885
Website:http://www.collaborativelearning.org
..

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