Petition for the preservation of the bilingual stream

8 years ago Featured

To the decision makers on this: please do your best to save the stream. It had a huge impact on lives the students and their families on so many dimension. Do not hesitate to use parents to mediate and find a common ground

8 years ago Featured

We have met a lot of families coming from all over the world, who chose to live in Wandsworth (of all places!) because of the Wix Bilingual stream and the multi cultural community of the borough. How could the Authorities not recognize this incredible advantage and protect it as it should be?

Shame on you using children for political means. Whomever took this decision should be fired

Bilingual classes are necessary today !

So many French parents living in London (like us) just cannot choose between an English school for their children - risking they will never really master their mother (or father) tongue - or a French school, losing the opportunity to fully integrate in the country they live in. For so many people, it is a dream come true when you see these children fully fluent in both languages and with a deep understanding of both cultures. Yes it is extremely challenging to follow two curriculums at once. For the children involved but also for the teachers and anyone working in the school. But the necessity to make it work means that people are ready to make huge efforts and big compromise. Thanks to the dedication of teachers and head teachers over the last 10 years, and the hard work of the children, it has been a huge success. It would be devastating to take this opportunity away from our children.

Limited powers from the wrong side of the fence. Many families and amazing teachers have been committed to the bilingual stream since it’s creation and have made it into an exciting and thriving learning environment encouraging cultural and community open mindedness. We have put up with many challenges over the years, including the hardships of two different schools and systems cooperating for the great benefit of children. Could the governors of the school please explain why the bilingual stream should go after so much efforts from their teachers and the supportive families? Surely there must be a way you remain accountable to the families who have elected you for such dumbfounded decisions...

Bilingual is excellent

L'ecole de Wix routinely provides a high level of education to its students and is a credit to the Belleville Wix school Academy (BW). Instead of getting rid of the bilingual stream, the school should be making the whole school bilingual so that all the children who have the benefit of being educated at the BW will benefit from the outstanding education that is consistently delivered within the bilingual stream. If the Headmaster's, old and new, are failing to deliver an appropriate standard of education the focus should be on raising the aspirations of the children, the families and the teachers. Making sweeping changes without looking at the route problem of why students are not achieving (i.e getting rid of the bilingual stream) won't suddenly raise the educational level of the children or the popularity of the school.

Very surprised and worried to see that a State school ruled by Wandsworth Borough seems to be ruled as a dictatorship and a banana republic. We, parents, are very proud of this bilingual stream in our school which offers a great and positive exposure to diversity, and cultural differences. Setting up this bilingual stream has been hard work and has only been possible thanks to the comittment and energy of parents and teachers. We have been made aware that most of the Wix school had no choice but to quit to protest against obviously unilateral decisions which have led to the resignation of the best dedicated assets of the school! I am outraged to have learnt that children from the bilingual stream have been taken out with no notice and no concertation with parents out of the SATs. This is revolting for children. This is a true discrimination It is also an active decision to falsify the results and ranking of our school in a national exam and OFSTED and I see this as a major professional mistake.

Chantal

Why change a system that works?

8 years ago Featured

The bilingual program at Belleville-Wix offers children a learning environment in which they learn to embrace two different cultures and languages in a way that uniquely positions them to understand the complexity of the world they live in. This program is a gem which deserves to be protected.

Let’s not let the new Wix administration sabotage a stream that has been so successful and benefited so many pupils over the years. It is incredible that can’t see how successful it has been over the years but more importantly the kudos and prestige it has brought to Wix primary. People are queuing up to join the stream and by extension the school!

This bilingual school is something unique for the children and is hugely beneficial for their future. 10 years, we all (direction from both French and English side, parents from both sides) fought to make it happen and it will be a real shame to destroy this opportunity for the children.

Hi, I had two girls at the Bilingual School at Wix - the first year and the third year of its existence and they loved it. Can someone summarise what the issues are and who is seeking to close the school? Thanks, James

The bilingual stream has prospered in the face of many challenges over ten years, benefitting hundreds of pupils who are immersed in two languages but most importantly two cultures (actually they have a broader international perspective on the world which is essential for their future). The challenges have been there from the start and the only factor that has changed is the Wix Primary School leadership though the academy trust. I have no reason NOT to believe that this schism is being driven by the Executive Head so that he can paint everything Belleville blue and forget about the distinctiveness of this style of education. I call on the Chair of Governors to call him to account.

Maybe some objective data will complement what has been said so far, and if Belleville is set to improve their academic achievement/records, it is their interest to keep the bilingual stream running. Data below suggest that such a bilingual stream benefits all children, including English kids' performance on their English tests and actually outperform their monolingual counterparts. I think Wix's own data will also confirm that from their previous SATs records, but below are US data published using information from over 2,000 pupils from year 3 to year 5: Title:Bilingual Two-Way Immersion Programs Benefit Academic Achievement. Abstract: The effects of bilingual education on reading and math achievement were examined by comparing test scores across different elementary-school programs. Results revealed that bilingual Two-Way Immersion programs benefited both minority-language and majority-language students. Minority-language students in Two-Way Immersion outperformed their peers in Transitional Programs of Instruction, while majority-language students in Two-Way Immersion outperformed their peers in Mainstream monolingual classrooms. Bilingual Two-Way Immersion programs may enhance reading and math skills in both minority-language and majority-language elementary-school children. Reference: Marian V, Shook A, Schroeder SR. in Biling Res J. 2013;36(2). Full data and article doi: 10.1080/15235882.2013.818075.

I support the bilingual stream. This has proven to be a success (from the parents who experienced it at the beginning)

Don’t change something that parents fight for only for ego perspective. Please think first of our children future and to the purpose of your school in their life.

I really hope that the English and French sides will be able to reach an agreement to continue the bilingual stream. It’s a unique and highly successful cross-cultural initiative. Test results have shown how pupils have thrived with this diverse education. I am very concerned to hear that pupils have been prevented from sitting their SATS – it must have been a very upsetting experience for them. I would hope that it is due to some unfortunate oversight, as surely no educational professional would subject children to a situation where they prepare for an exam and only get told when they are about to start that they are not allowed to sit the exam, despite 14 of their classmates being able to sit theirs? I truly hope that a way forward will be found as soon as possible and that the bilingual education will be available to many more children in Clapham and beyond.