Dzien dobry

Good day, nursery children from the latest migrant group to Britain are saying. Annette Rawstrone finds out what kind of greeting they are getting in return.

Unprecedented numbers of Eastern Europeans have come to the UK since joining the European Union (EU) in 2004. The Government predicted 15,000 people a year entering from the eight new EU member countries, but it approved more than 400,000 work applications between May 2004 and June 2006. More than half of these people are from Poland and many have brought children with them. Around 27,000 UK child benefit applications have already been approved.

Along with the Government statisticians taken by surprise, schools and nurseries have been taken unaware, especially in areas where staff previously had little experience of including ethnically diverse children. Peter Baldock, of the Cultural Mentoring Service, acknowledges that such an influx is a new issue for many settings. But it is one that will not go away, especially now that Bulgaria and Romania have also joined the EU this year.

Immigrant children can put an added financial and staffing burden on schools and early years services. It creates a need to train existing staff and employ new people to cope with the increase in children with English as an additional language.

It is different, having one or two children without English, to a school or nursery finding they have a new intake with a substantial proportion of children who cant speak English, says Mr Baldock. If the school is not expecting it and finds children are arriving knowing no English, then even the most welcoming and well-intentioned school can be knocked off balance.

It is a dilemma for schools and nurseries. In the longer run they can find that it has been to their advantage, but it means an enormous investment in time and resources, whether to recruit specialised staff or train current staff. They have to work out whether it is a temporary phenomenon or one worth investing in.

The National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum is calling on the Government to give  schools and early years settings extra funding to cope with increased numbers of immigrant children.

A spokesperson said, We believe that all children learning English as an additional language should have their needs well met within an inclusive setting. While many early years and Foundation Stage settings have considerable experience with working with children and their parents from a range of linguistic and ethnic heritages, we also recognise that migration from Eastern Europe has left some settings feeling under-prepared.

We believe additional funding would be helpful to promote the inclusion of parents and children from all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds for example, supporting the employment of staff who share a language background with parents and children and are able to establish good relationships from childrens earliest days, as well as using these language skills to support childrens learning in the setting.

Staff feelings

The hostile coverage of immigration seen in some of the UK media could result in some nursery and school staff having prejudices that need addressing before they start working with Eastern European children.

There are the fears that in general, Polish migrant workers expect lower salaries and services and that it could undermine peoples jobs in the working classes. An important issue is to explore with staff how they feel about Eastern European immigrants, advises Mr Baldock.

Staff also have to be prepared not to make assumptions about the way families from other countries raise their children.

Six Polish children currently attend Claremont Community Primary School in Blackpool, Lancashire. Headteacher Pat Wills says it is important to explain their school system.

In Poland the children do not start school until they are seven, she says. They tend to use nurseries, but these are a lot more formal and used to be poorly resourced under the Communist regime. Housing remains a problem because they are hugely overcrowded and people tend to live with their parents and grandparents. When they come to England, having a flat of their own is a major bonus. But the parents often work long hours, so they have to use all the extended school facilities.

We try to make sure that the Polish families have links with the school nurse, but the children tend to be very fit and well dressed. They are used to dressing for the cold weather in fact, they have concerns that English children are not properly dressed.

Some families do not stay long in Britain, opting to save up money over 12 to 18 months and then return to Poland. Most parents are keen for their children to receive a good education and, says Ms Wills, see learning English as a major bonus.

Language exchange

Its not just immigrant children who are learning a new language. Staff at Darlington College Childcare Centre in County Durham are taking Polish lessons since four Polish children joined the nursery last term.

Manager Andrea Cartwright says, We make sure there is lots of smiling and non-verbal communication and are careful to explain things simply,  without being patronising.

The Polish children are now learning English words, and children with English as a first language have started to say some Polish words as well. They are learning from each other.

Wrexham EAL advisor Shirley Berry has found that early years settings in her area are coping well with an influx of Polish families. It is in the later years with 14- to 16-year-olds that it can be difficult for the children and for the schools, she adds.

Ms Berry stresses the importance of establishing good communication with parents and especially the children. She says, Children are coming into a strange setting with strange people talking a funny language, and it may be the first time away from their mum. Children can react quite violently to that, but on the whole it is a very positive experience. The key is having bilingual support workers so that children can be properly introduced and inducted into the setting.

In Slough, the Ethnic Minority Achievement service assessed 70 newly arrived Polish children last academic year and 51 so far this year. The local authority and schools have responded to this rise in Polish children by, among other initiatives, employing bilingual community assistants who induct, assess and settle newly arrived children and liaise with parents and the Polish community.

Some schools have employed Polish teaching assistants and the achievement team has produced a good-practice guide for inducting new children. Polish families are also being directed to the local childrens centres, where they can access Jobcentre Plus surgeries and receive help with housing and language services.

Janet Tomlinson, strategic director of education and childrens services in Slough, says that early years practitioners are especially geared to helping children new to this country. Much of early years practice uses strategies that are particularly beneficial to EAL pupils. Early years practitioners are also very skilled at integrating pupils new to school. In many ways, they are the most experienced of all phases at working with this group of pupils. For example, St Anthonys school has concentrated first language assistants in its early years classes in order to make the transition into schooling smoother for their younger Polish pupils.

Positive for all

Pre-school liaison officer Karen Norris aids the transition of children into pre-school and reception class in Boston, Lincolnshire, a rural area deluged by migrants attracted by agricultural work. Her work also involves supporting staff in early years settings and providing relevant training.

Community volunteers recruited to overcome language barriers work alongside Ms Norris to interpret and translate letters and visit families with her. She says, The volunteers know how difficult it can be to find out the system here and appreciate how complicated settling in a new country can be. It has proved to be a real success.

She adds, I encourage the families that I work with to get involved in the settings. Some parents have gone into pre-schools and told stories in their own language, which is good for everybody. It is a positive experience.

Pat Wills in Blackpool agrees. Blackpool is predominantly white and some of the children think all sorts of daft things, such as that people from different countries need to be a different colour. So its a surprise when children look like them but speak a different language. They are now getting the sense that there is a big world out there and people live differently. If the Polish children werent here then they could be incredibly insular.