Education Notebook; By Lord Adonis, Minister for Schools

By LORD ADONIS

AT JOHN Kelly Boys’ Technology College in North London, as the Mail recently reported, a thriving community language school operates every Saturday where children and adults study their mother tongue.

These inspiring classes are a positive means for community- building. They also encourage parents to take a direct role in their children’s education, and help to improve pupil behaviour and achievement.

There are more than 5,000 ‘supplementary’ schools around England, representing almost every ethnic group: Iranian and Russian, Afghan and Somali, Greek and German. Some offer evening classes, others open at weekends. Many are run largely by parents and volunteers, often helping pupils with basic education as well as providing specific classes and activities for the cultural community concerned.

Some supplementary schools operate on an impressive scale. The Ebony School in Greenwich, for example, has its own publishing house and teacher-training courses aimed at raising achievement among African and African-Caribbean pupils. What all these schools have in common is a belief in education as the basis for individual achievement and stronger communities.

Teachers are often role models for students, demonstrating the value of education to young people within their own ethnic or religious community.

Eight out of ten pupils in a national survey reported that attendance at a supplementary school helped them with their regular school work.

The Government, together with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, is funding a new national resource centre for supplementary education. Its purpose is to build a network of these valuable institutions, provide training for school leaders and teachers, and to set standards to ensure high-quality tuition.

Successful schools engage parents, employers and local communities to the full, meaning supplementary schools have a vital role to play in pursuit of excellence.

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