This article is from page 4 of the 2008-09-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Department of Education is analysing the structures in place at Ennis Community College for teach- ing new students for whom English is a second language.
Department officials visited the school in May as part of nationwide research project to see how it is adapting to the influx of internation- al students. The school caters for 430 students, 78 of which are foreign.
That number has jumped from just two in 2000. Patricia Murray, teacher of English as an Additional Language (EAL) co-ordinator at Ennis Com-
munity College, said the experience has been rewarding for both students and teachers.
“We presently have 78, the growth has been rapid and has required ad- justments on behalf of the teachers and other staff.”
She added “However, the influx of EAL students has contributed to the diverse culture in the school; given the opportunity to ‘learn’ from each other about different countries, cul- tures, languages and systems in our ever shrinking world. Teaching stu- dents with little or no English has proven challenging for the teaching staff, but has given great rewards in
terms of achievement”.
The resource department in the school give extra tuition to EAL stu- dents and support teachers in their subject areas, in many classes team teaching has been incorporated to help the students.
‘““We are very proud of the diversity of cultures that exist in our school community,” said Mrs Murray
“In recognition of this our students painted and framed their national flags. The flags were placed on the wall facing the main entrance the school.”
A multicultural evening orgainsed each year by students and teachers
is another method aimed at bridging the language gap.
“All in all, the whole school has benefited in terms of fostering, un- derstanding and appreciation of all the varied cultures that now make up the Ireland of the future,’ said Mrs Mylene ears
A lack of English does at times re- strict older students capabilities par- ticularly where technical subjects are eeieouiee
School principal Matt Power said, “There is a language barrier when it comes to taking exams in subjects like woodwork and technical draw- ing. Many would definitely do bet- ter if they had better understanding of English. That would only apply to students who are later entrants into the school system. It’s not an 1s- sue with students in first year.’ The breakdown of countries represented at Ennis Community College is as follows;
Nigeria (9); Kenya (1); South Af- rica; (5) ;Ghana (5); Czech Repub- lic (3 ); Poland (10); Slovakia (10); UK (2); Germany (3); Lithuania (6); Brazil (7); China (1); Philippines (2) Zimbabwe (1); Macedonia (1); Rus- sia (1).