Pupils with limited English should receive special treatment, says Chris Davis

The former chair of National Primary Headteachers has called for children who enter education with limited or no English language skills to be treated as "special needs" pupils, in news that might be of interest to primary teachers.

"In primary school the class teacher will normally be giving that bit of extra time to any child with any kind of special needs, and this is a special need, albeit possibly a temporary one," said Chris Davis.

Official figures have shown that the number of children attending school who do not speak English as their first language has been on the up each year.

Mr Davis recognised that this can increase difficulties for staff in teaching jobs but noted this is more of an issue for secondary teachers.

"The more difficult situations are when children arrive during the secondary years with no experience of English at all. It's probably more of a problem because the children are going from class to class" he explained.

Posted by Tim Colman




Published On 18/05/2010