Honour for bilingual UK school
A REVOLUTIONARY scheme where children are taught in both French and English has won a school a prestigious award founded by Napoleon.
The idea has been imported from the Continent where pupils learn all subjects in bilingual classes. And it is claimed they end up speaking and writ- ing English better than native British children.
The Ecole de Wix, part of Wix Primary School in Battersea, south London, received the Ordre des Palmes Academiques after teaching French and English youngsters in bilingual classes for the past six years, the first joint language school in the country.
It teamed up with Lycee Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London, enabling children to become fluent in French at an early age.
Marc Wolstencroft, head of Wix Primary School, and Paul-Marie Blanchard, director at Ecole de Wix, were awarded the order's chevalier grade by Laurent Burin des Roziers, cultural counsellor at the French Embassy.
The order was founded by Napoleon, who used it to honour eminent academics.Mr Wolstencroft said: “It was a terrifically proud moment for us and a formal recog- nition of the quality of the teamwork between the French and English teachers, Wandsworth Council and the French cultural attache who make the classes work so well.
“Our project is interesting not only for the high standards that the bilingual classes achieve, but also because it pro- vides a greater educational choice for parents, whoseem more than willing to embrace it, judging by our waiting lists. The success dispels the myth that as a nation we are inherently poor at languages. We just don’t do enough of it.”
Ecole de Wix head Paul-Marie Blanchard added: “Our joint project has been a terrific success both socially and academically and Wix now has an international reputation for its pioneering partnership.”
Both schools enter students in the bilingual stream, which follows a special curriculum that meets the statutory
requirements of both the UK and French national curriculums.
In the first few weeks, pupils learn reading and writing in English, with French introduced as soon as they have a grasp of their mother tongue.
Two other London primaries, Hotham in Putney and Shaftes- bury Park in Batter- sea, are taking up the
idea. Steve Patriarca, former head of William Hulme Grammar School in Manchesterandnow associate director of Danube Interna- tional School in Vienna, said: “All educated young people in central Europe learn English and are often better than native language speakers.
“English education has been a shambles for years. English schools and English workers can only compete in an international labour market if they learn languages, and for decades English schools hardly bothered. Even English is not always taught adequately.”