Many of the questions that you raise apply to all non selective state bilingual providers who adhere to the published Wandsworth admissions criteria. In both [Wandsworth admissions to] Wix and Hotham there is no control over the languages spoken by families/ children and there are currently no plans that this will ever be a selection criteria. As such, both schools have found they have a great deal of families who are non native French speakers and champion this choice.
As with any child in any school in any area of the curriculum which is new/ challenging to a child, we would stress the importance and level of parental support needed to achieve the very best. Parents that do make the choice to buy into bilingual education should be fully aware of their crucial role in supporting their children.
The experience of many bilingual providers we are working with find that parental networks are common and successful, and we will certainly be encouraging this. As in any bilingual setting, a parent will have to ensure that they make the most of opportunities provided by the school (for example, extra curricular provision) and actively seek out opportunities such as making play dates with French peers, joining French language clubs, French baby sitters, holidays to France and embracing French culture etc. Parents at many schools hire tutors for their children, and this is at their discretion.
We have met with the Lycee and although they are very supportive of our plans, there are currently no plans for children from Shaftesbury Park to have an automatic place there – it’s so over-subscribed! I do know they would love to open another secondary school but need the right premises. As there is no requirement to follow the French national curriculum, we will not be supervised by any French inspections.
With regards to school improvement, it would be very difficult to list in detail all the things we have done and continue to do since our last ofsted inspection, however with a clear vision from the leadership team about how to make things even better and an emphasis on excellent teaching and learning we are well placed to continue to improve the education and experiences of all of our pupils.
There is lots more info on our website (bilingual school tab) so please have a look at that. If you have any further queries, please contact us at
bilingual@shaftesburypark.wandsworth.sch.uk as we cannot access this website from school and it is rather difficult to post so much from a phone – I have lost 2 attempts at writing this already! I’m not sure if you have managed to visit us yet, but parents who have been able to attend our information meetings/ open mornings have had the opportunity to discuss many of these queries in person.
Many of the questions that you raise apply to all non selective state bilingual providers who adhere to the published Wandsworth admissions criteria. In both [Wandsworth admissions to] Wix and Hotham there is no control over the languages spoken by families/ children and there are currently no plans that this will ever be a selection criteria. As such, both schools have found they have a great deal of families who are non native French speakers and champion this choice.
As with any child in any school in any area of the curriculum which is new/ challenging to a child, we would stress the importance and level of parental support needed to achieve the very best. Parents that do make the choice to buy into bilingual education should be fully aware of their crucial role in supporting their children.
The experience of many bilingual providers we are working with find that parental networks are common and successful, and we will certainly be encouraging this. As in any bilingual setting, a parent will have to ensure that they make the most of opportunities provided by the school (for example, extra curricular provision) and actively seek out opportunities such as making play dates with French peers, joining French language clubs, French baby sitters, holidays to France and embracing French culture etc. Parents at many schools hire tutors for their children, and this is at their discretion.
We have met with the Lycee and although they are very supportive of our plans, there are currently no plans for children from Shaftesbury Park to have an automatic place there – it’s so over-subscribed! I do know they would love to open another secondary school but need the right premises. As there is no requirement to follow the French national curriculum, we will not be supervised by any French inspections.
With regards to school improvement, it would be very difficult to list in detail all the things we have done and continue to do since our last ofsted inspection, however with a clear vision from the leadership team about how to make things even better and an emphasis on excellent teaching and learning we are well placed to continue to improve the education and experiences of all of our pupils.
There is lots more info on our website (bilingual school tab) so please have a look at that. If you have any further queries, please contact us at bilingual@shaftesburypark.wandsworth.sch.uk as we cannot access this website from school and it is rather difficult to post so much from a phone – I have lost 2 attempts at writing this already! I’m not sure if you have managed to visit us yet, but parents who have been able to attend our information meetings/ open mornings have had the opportunity to discuss many of these queries in person.
