Petition for the preservation of the bilingual stream

A bilingual stream is an asset for a school and for children, it should be reinforced not pulled out in a sneaky way. The new head should focus on improving the quality of the canteen, fixing the roof, get the drains unblocked rather than discriminating children; not really a good way to improve OFSTED ratings.

I very much support the continuation of the bilingual stream at Wix. Giving young people the opportunity to develop a second language is such an amazing and important service that this stream brings to South West London, long may it continue.

I very much support the continuation of the bilingual stream at Wix. We have 1 son in the system today and 2 other siblings hoping to experience the same system.

The Bilingual Stream was one of the key feature of Wix school. As pioneer of this stream Wix should be proud and continue to enrich its bilingual stream education. The thought of stopping the stream mean further division and not encouraging cultural, language and history across the two countries. I do sincerely hope you continue this steam.

8 years ago Featured

The bilingual stream at Wix must continue. My children have benefitted from it, and results have proven that bilingual children are performing very highly. Wix is the only truly bilingual school in the country, results have been excellent, so keep it going!

It is scientifically proven that bilinguals children tend to show advantage to acquire certain mental capacities.

I would be very disappointed if Wix dropped the bilingual stream. We had two children complete it and we were all very happy with the environment and outcomes. There was bound to be lots tension when two organisations (lycee and belleville) run one physical space with three different streams (french, english, bilingual) built on different pedagogies/philosphies/values. It was also inevitable the the joint venture would run into problems when the original founder/head teachers left as they had the vision and drive to overcome obstacles. Given the struggles with the English stream, my guess is the new leadership team from Belleville want to roll out their model to Wix rather than deal with the complexities of running this school as is, and having to negotiate with the Lycee on most matters. That said, one bilingual stream feels sub-scale, and perhaps pressure should be applied to the Lycee to find a more sustainable solution for a dedicated bilingual school in South London. We know the demand is there!

The bilingual stream at Belleville Wix is an unusual but worthwhile cross-cultural initiative, which while demanding of teachers, parents and children, ultimately delivers rounded, well-educated children who are fluent in both French and English. It is a real asset for the local community. From a purely academic perspective, I am confident that its success is borne out by historical year 6 exam results. As a parent of children in year 5B/3B I am however deeply concerned about current rumours regarding the future of the bilingual stream in its current form and reports yesterday of mass resignations on the part of teachers on the English side of the bilingual stream whose teaching ability and commitment I rate highly. It seems to be me that to date there has been a real lack of appropriate communication to parents on these matters. Moreover, if the future of the bilingual stream in its current form is indeed in doubt, as these rumours and reports suggest, I would expect full and proper consultation of affected parents on any material changes before they are implemented.

The bilingual stream at Wix has been such an amazing achievement. It was always going to be a challenge to get both systems to work together in good harmony. But this was indeed achieved for many years, thanks to the willingness , passion, flexibility and hard work of the teachers and the admin staff. When Belleville school took over, everything changed for the worst. Lack of communication, lack of flexibility, lack of a vision for the school and a total dictatorship from the new head, suddenly unwilling to cooperate with the "other side". Such a pity! My son was lucky to benefit from this amazing bi-cultural schooling and I truly hope that sensibility and cooperation will prevail and save the stream. This feels like Brexit all over again...

Shameful. The writing was on the wall . As soon as Michael G(r)ove took over there was only one thing on his mind and that was to completely absorb Wix into Belleville without any regard for the hardwork, subtilities, overwhelming benefits and tradition of the bilingual stream. Obsession with results and (mis)management (not least of honest hard working teachers) has led to the current situation. The petition should be for him to go.

I think it is very important for kids to have the opportunity to have a bilingual education. Lenguages are a big part of kids development

We live in a multi-cultural world and the bilingual stream at Wix is the perfect example of how education has evolved to develop our children so they fully understand their environment. The success of the stream is incredible . Please do not take it away from our children.

The bilingual side must keep going

We are extremely attached to the Wix bilingual stream, which brings unity between French and British communities and mutual cultural benefits. Please make every effort to preserve it.

8 years ago Featured

The Wix bilingual stream was the main reason for choosing this school and this area. After 5 years of experience, we're still delighted with the success of it and with everything it teaches to our children. Long may it last!

Our two daughters had an amazingly enjoyable time learning in the bilingual stream at Wix. Please keep making more children happy like them!

Keep Wix's bilingual alive.

Why scrap something that is working and is bringing outstanding results ?

The Wix bilingual education experience has provided a great educational opportunity for our children and developed their sense of cultural exchange, long may this enriching element of our community continue

Please do your best to save the bilingual stream