Ms Deirdre Cree, student services coordinator and senior lecturer in education at St Mary’s University College, welcomed representatives from local primary and post–primary schools, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and local community groups to a recent celebration-of-learning event.

Mr Paul Maskey MP presented teachers and classroom assistants, based in schools in the Greater Falls, with certificates from Cambridge University in recognition of their successful completion of a programme in teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL) for primary, post-primary and adult learners (CELT P/S and A). 

Successful participants from Full Service Community Network, St Paul’s and St Clare’s Primary Schools

The Full Service Community Network (FSCN) and the Greater Falls Extended Schools Cluster (GFESC), in partnership with International House Belfast (IH), financed and facilitated training for a number of school staff based within the Greater Falls area, helping to build understanding, capacity and skills to enable the staff to support growing numbers of newcomer children within their local, school communities. This support included shared learning visits and observations, workshops and whole-school staff development sessions and culminated in the delivery of a year-long intensive Certificate in English Language Teaching Programme, accredited by Cambridge University, for eight local educators. This was the first time this course was delivered on the island of Ireland, a first for West Belfast.

Many schools in West Belfast have experienced a rapid growth in the number of newcomer pupils. A number of factors have influenced this growth:

• The resettlement scheme for Syrian families

• People seeking asylum from conflict within their home countries

• Economic migration

• The employment opportunity presented by Belfast Trust hospitals

• The availability of satisfactory housing

• Access to educational opportunities

• Welcoming communities, and

• Family connections to the area.

While this demographic change, particularly within the Greater Falls area, has impacted positively upon the entire school population, bringing a richness in diversity of culture, religion and ethnicity, it has also presented pupils and educators with a new set of challenges when ensuring that children achieve their potential.

Challenges include:

• Teaching English as an additional language

• Teaching subject-specific academic language, and

• Bridging the academic gap for children who have experienced years of interrupted education.

For example, two of our local primary schools currently have between 25% and 30% of their school population originating from eighteen to twenty-six different countries, and one local post-primary school has 17% of their school population designated as newcomer or English as an Additional Language (EAL) students. School census data indicates that the Northern Ireland average for newcomer pupils is 4.4%.

Initially, the response to these challenges was on an ad hoc basis. Schools approached the needs of the children in individual ways with support from the Education Authority’s (EA) Intercultural Education Service, the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI), Conway Education Centre and other community and voluntary organisations.

This support consisted of:

• In-class, individual and small group assistance

• After-school and homework clubs

• Access to interpretation services