Language Diversity in Lambeth Schools

Language Diversity in Lambeth Schools 2016 2016 Contents Page 1. Introduction 2 2. Methodology 2 3. The Changing Pattern of the School Population in Lambeth 3 4. Languages Spoken in Lambeth Schools 6 • English as an Additional Language in Lambeth 6 • Language Diversity in Lambeth 8 • Changes to Languages Since 1992 8 • Changes to Languages Since 2015 11 5. English Fluency of Pupils with EAL 13 6. English Fluency and Language Spoken 16 7. English Fluency and Attainment 18 • Attainment in Primary Schools KS1 & KS2 18 • Attainment in Secondary Schools GCSE 20 8. Conclusions 27 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Main Languages Spoken in Primary Schools 28 Appendix 2: Main Languages Spoken in Secondary Schools 29 Appendix 3: All Languages Spoken in Lambeth Schools 30 Appendix 4: English Fluency & Languages Spoken in Lambeth 33 Primary and Secondary Schools 2013 Appendix 5: Key Stage 1-4 Performance by Level of English Fluency 36 RS225/15 1 1. Introduction Language diversity attracts much interest among policy makers and educationists and yet little is known about the performance of pupils who speak different languages in British schools. Since 1990, schools in the London Borough of Lambeth have demonstrated a commitment to valuing language diversity and have developed a remarkably detailed body of knowledge about the home and community languages used by their pupils. The local authority has implemented a data collection system for Lambeth schools to specifically monitor the range of ethnic backgrounds, languages spoken and English fluency of the school population. The 2016 ‘EAL Fluency Survey’ was the 26th in the series carried out by the LA since 1990. This report describes the languages spoken by pupils in Lambeth schools in order to compare how the pattern of language usage has changed in the borough over the past few years and examine the fluency in English of each of these language groups. 2. Methodology All nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and the pupil referral units have collected information on languages spoken by their pupils in January every year since 1992. Information on 37,298 pupils in schools and pupil referral units was collected in January 2016. Details of a pupil’s fluency in English and first language was collected as part of the Lambeth English Fluency Survey. Information was also collected on many other pupil social factors, including ethnicity, as part of the DfE School Census. Ethnic Background Categories The ethnicity categories are based on DfE guidelines and local need, and are similar to those used across the borough for monitoring equal opportunities. 1. Any Other Group 8. Greek 15. White British 2. Asian Other 9. Gypsy/Roma 16. White Irish 3. Bangladeshi 10. Indian 17. White Other 4. Black African 11. Pakistani 18. Mixed White/Black African 5. Black Caribbean 12. Portuguese 19. Mixed White/Asian 6. Black Other 13. Turkish 20. Mixed White/Black Caribbean 7. Chinese 14. Vietnamese 21. Mixed Other Ethnic background relates not to the pupil's country of birth or nationality, but to his or her predominant racial and cultural identity. The categories used are those agreed by the local authority for its monitoring procedures. Language Categories Schools were asked to question pupils and their parents on their language(s) in accordance with the DfE definition “a first language, where it is other than English, is recorded where a child was exposed to the language during early development and continues to be exposed to this language in the home or in the community”. The language is recorded from the DfE School Census language list. The list includes a category for recording Caribbean Creole English. Dialects of English and English-based Creoles, however, are not considered to be an additional language to English, when referring to Stages of Fluency. Where two or more languages were used at home, the mother-tongue was recorded. 2 3. The Changing Ethnic Background of the School Population in Lambeth Table 1 shows the ethnic background of pupils in Lambeth schools in 2016 and shows how the ethnic composition of the school population has changed since 2000. Those pupils of compulsory school age and above who have been classified as an ethnic group other than White British are defined as being of ethnic minority origin. The main findings of the ethnicity analysis show that: • of the 37,298 pupils recorded in the 2016 School Census for Lambeth, the largest three ethnic groups were Black African (23.1%),followed by Black Caribbean (15.0%) and White British (14.4%). Pupils categorised as White Other are the next most significant group (9.4%). • White Other are the fastest growing ethnic group having increased by 3.6 percentage points over the last ten years. • 82.7% of pupils in Lambeth schools were from a black or ethnic minority background. This is an increase of 10.6% since the 2000 census and continues to rise. Table 1: Ethnic Background of the Lambeth School Population 2000 & 2007-2016(%) Ethnicity 2000 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Black African 21.2 23.3 24.3 24.1 23.7 24.0 24.0 23.9 24.1 23.5 23.1 Black Caribbean 22.6 19.1 18.9 18.3 18.2 17.7 17.0 16.6 16.0 15.5 15.0 White British 24.9 17.2 16.7 15.9 15.6 15.1 14.7 14.3 13.7 14.3 14.4 White Other 6.8 5.8 6.7 6.9 6.5 6.1 7.5 7.8 8.7 8.8 9.4 Portuguese 4.4 5.6 5.1 5.1 5.2 5.6 5.1 6.0 5.9 5.9 5.8 Mixed Other - 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.8 4.6 5.0 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.8 Any Other Group - 3.8 4.1 4.3 4.5 7.9 4.6 4.1 4.6 4.7 4.8 Black Other 11.0 5.8 4.6 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.8 4.5 4.7 4.6 Mixed White/Black - 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.5 Mixed White/Black African - 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.1 Bangladeshi 1.9 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 Asian Other - 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 Pakistani 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.3 Mixed White/Asian - 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 Chinese 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 Indian 1.6 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 White Irish 1.4 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 Turkish 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 Vietnamese 0.9 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 Greek 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 Gypsy/Roma - 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Aggregate percentages will not equate to 100% due to the exclusion of pupils for whom ethnic background is not known, or who refused to provide this information. The ethnic composition of the Lambeth school population has changed considerably over the years (see Figure 1). In 2000, White British was the largest ethnic group with 24.9% of the pupil population. This has dropped markedly to 14.4% in 2016, now representing the 3rd largest ethnic group (Figure 2), although absolute numbers of White British pupils have started to rise again since 2014. Pupils from an ethnic minority background have seen a surge in numbers in both primary and secondary schools in Lambeth with almost a 50% increase in numbers of ethnic minority pupils in Lambeth schools since 2000 to be 82.7% of the school population. 3 Figure 1: Ethnic Minority Pupil Population in Schools in Lambeth 2000-2016 35000 30349 29356 29832 30000 28273 27334 26374 25194 24250 24764 25000 23646 22199 22553 22748 21170 21681 20256 20829 20000 No. of Pupils 15000 10000 5000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Primary Secondary The proportion of Black Caribbean pupils has also declined from 22.6% to 15% since 2000 and has continued to fall. In contrast, levels of Black African pupils in Lambeth schools have remained fairly consistent over the last ten years with absolute numbers of Black African pupils continuing to rise in line with the growth of the pupil population. White Other pupils are the fastest growing ethnic group in Lambeth schools having increased by 3.6 percentage points over the last decade and having the largest increase in absolute numbers in the past year.

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