The Week Ahead 20170609

An update on Bilingualism – what the research says…… It is well acknowledged that we are fierce advocates of bilingual education, we believe in immersing children in the languages of Chinese and English with the aim of promoting language acquisition at every possible opportunity. Dual language education is an effective approach to developing language proficiency and literacy in English and a partner language, for us Chinese. (www.cal.org/areas-of-impact/english-learners/bilingual-and-dual-language-education) Promoting bilingualism through immersion also promotes academic achievement and cross-cultural competence; pupils maintain their native language whilst adding another language, and they develop pride in their own culture whilst developing an understanding of others. Around the world, more than 50% of people speak at least 2 languages with many countries having more than one national language. People are increasingly expected to speak, read and write at least one of a number of ‘super’ languages such as English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish or Arabic as well. To be monolingual is to now be in the minority. Multilingualism has been shown to have many social, psychological and lifestyle advantages. Moreover, researchers are finding a swath of health benefits from speaking more than one language, including faster stroke recovery and delayed onset of dementia.   Potential benefits of bilingual education have been identified as:

1. Attention

People who speak two languages often outperform monolinguals on general measures of executive function. Executive function are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/). Bilinguals can pay more focused attention without being distracted and also improve in the ability to switch from one task to another.

2. Empathy

Bilingual children learn to follow social cues to figure out which language to use with which person and in what setting. This supports the development of perspective-taking, a fundamental social and emotional skill.

3. Reading (English)

Research suggests that even when a child is not comfortably bilingual (with a smaller English vocabulary) they are still able to decode text. This indicates that even when vocabulary may not be strong, bilingual children are such good puzzle solvers, they can still make sense of overall storylines.

4. Diversity and Integration

Bilingual education brings children together from diverse backgrounds. The home language is still heard and is valued which improves a child’s sense of belonging. Parents are generally more involved in bilingual education as they can still support in the home language.

5. Protection against cognitive decline.

Research has shown that actively using two languages seems to have a protective effect against age-related dementia (adapted from www.npr.org). “A superior ability to concentrate, solve problems and focus are, of course, valuable in everyday life. But perhaps the most exciting benefit of bilingualism occurs in ageing, when executive function typically declines: bilingualism seems to protect against dementia”. It is thought that bilingualism rewires the brain and improves the executive system so that as parts of the brain succumb to age-related damage, bilinguals can compensate more easily. Did you know? very year, humanity loses 30-50 languages. Of approximately 7,000 still in existence, just 10 are used by half the world’s speakers!       Planning ahead and looking to the future……(part two) EY3 and EY4 move towards language specific rooms next year presenting the pupils with the opportunity to be fully immersed in the languages of English and Chinese. The pupils will move between two classrooms; their English room on one day followed by their Chinese room the next day. Upon entering the room, the pupils will not only be surrounded by one language, but also by an environment representative of the language – a true East and West learning experience. The rooms will represent cultural identities, important cultural dates will be referenced and acknowledged and an enhanced immersion will follow.   The teaching teams will be consistent throughout the year; therefore the pupils will grow increasingly confident with their teachers and will form close bonds within the team. This method of delivery will support the pupils in making a distinct switch between languages and an increased appreciation of the similarities and differences of both cultures. It is a very exciting change for the pupils and we look forward to seeing how they respond to the abundant opportunities for learning.     Classroom News for week beginning 12^th June 2017 Early Years 1 – Wonderful Water This week, we focus on the appropriate use of water. We will begin learning about animals that live in the sea and will practise imitating the movements of the animals in the sea. This will be supported by making sea creatures’ crafts. We will explore the differences between living on the land and living on the sea and pupils will have the opportunity to build a small water world and put toy animals there to play with. We will also create our own jellyfish which children will have the opportunity to add to the small world if they like. We will have discussions around sea transportations and we will also make some crafts, such as boats and build a large submarine. This will be a class project which the pupils will be able to go inside of once finished and ready for deep sea exploring! We are reading: I spy – under the sea, We need water We are singing: Yellow submarine, The bath song, Row row row your boat, Feng shua jiang, Mu zhi ge, Shu ya zi   Early Years 2 – In the Jungle “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.” - Plutarch 

Down in the jungle where nobody goes you might find elephants, tigers, crocodiles and 90 EY2 pupils listening to the sounds of the jungle. In our third week looking at jungles, the pupils will use their listening skills to imitate the natural sounds of the jungle, roaring like tigers or chirping like the tropical birds. This week we will continue to introduce the children to different games such as Snakes and Ladders and the Elephant Memory Game, where they will practise taking turns, counting and being considerate to the needs of others. As the pupils have been exploring the jungle for a couple of weeks, we thought it was about time that they wrote home. So, this week we will introduce a jungle post box, into which the children will be asked to post their letters. Don’t be surprised if you receive some letters from your children in the post! We are reading: 我的前面是谁, 谁在热带雨林里, The Selfish Crocodile – Faustin Charles, Walking Through the Jungle – Julie Lacome, Rumble in the Jungle – Giles Andreae, Monkey Puzzle – Julia Donaldson We are singing: 洋娃娃和小熊跳舞, 五只猴子荡秋千, Walking in the Jungle   Early Years 3 – Exploring Animal Habitats To continue our ‘Habitats’ theme we will be focusing on how animals have adapted to their surroundings: How do penguins keep themselves warm? Why do animals live so high up in the rainforest? The pupils will be able to use different media to find out answers to their own questions and will have the opportunity to show what they have learnt in different ways, for example through role play, painting etc. We are reading: Commotion in the Ocean - Giles Andreae,我们一起去捉熊, 小黑鱼, 海底探险 We are singing: 5 Little Fish, The Whales,狮子之王, 森林嘭嘭嘭, 鲨鱼一家, 在海里