Primary school goes bi-lingual

Pupils support the project

A primary school where children have lessons in French and English is being set up in south-west London.

It is the first state-funded school of its kind in the UK conceived by head teachers - one English and one French.

Lessons will be split between the two languages so that by the time pupils leave they will be fluent in both.

The scheme, at Wix primary school and Ecole Charles de Gaulle Wix, Clapham, starts in September and is funded by the UK and French governments.

It's novel and groundbreaking and I think it's going to be very exciting for everyone involved Marc Wolstencroft, head teacher, Wix primary school

From September 2006, they will add a joint bi-lingual intake class, with children following the national curriculum in French and English.

The plan is to form an entirely bi-lingual primary school of about 180 pupils within six years.

Although there are schools in the UK where children are taught in Welsh or Gaelic as well as English, the government is keen to expand modern foreign languages and has promised to spend another £115m in England, focusing on primary schools.

Marc Wolstencroft, head teacher of Wix primary, told the BBC news website: "We think 11 is the worst time to start a language.

"Psychologists tell you that if you want to create a bi-lingual person you have to start a very young age.

"With this project, we are doing something that a lot of people in the local community want.

"It's a win-win situation."

Hong Kong model

Mr Wolstencroft, who came up with the scheme with the Ecole Charles de Gaulle Wix's head, Gerard Martinez, hopes it can become a model for bi-lingual approaches to education.

He said: "It will become a Clapham junction of the educational world."

The heads' research into developing such a school took them to Hong Kong, where bi-lingual teaching is well established.

They are looking to recruit more staff and train existing teachers and will eventually need extra classrooms.

"It's novel and groundbreaking and I think it's going to be very exciting for everyone involved, both professionally and personally," said Mr Wolstencroft.

Pupils at the school support the project.

One girl said: "I would like to learn French because when I'm older and I go to France, I would like to be a tourist and learn all the foreign languages."

Another girl said: "I would like to learn French so that I can teach other people and they can understand it."

A boy said: "It would be a good advantage to learn French as a second language to speak to other people and have more friends and have fun learning it."

National Centre for Languages director Isabella Moore said: "This is an excellent initiative and one which will help to make another language a normal part of the curriculum for young children - as it is in so many European countries.

"This is undoubtedly the way forward if we want our young people to be able to compete on a level playing field in the international economy."