Ethnic minority and EAL initiatives

Early Years Storysacks: examples of local practice Schools and out-of-school projects The Better Reading Partnership Black Male Forum wins praise (29.11.02) Holiday activity packs Oakenrod community gardening project Scheme for bilingual pupils in Lancashire (November 2004) Parents including Family literacy Encouraging responsible black dads (25.04.03) LLU+ (formerly the London Language and Literacy Unit) Oakenrod community gardening project Sure Start Keighley ESOL Storysacks Pilot Ethnic minority and EAL family literacy initiatives - archive Young people Albanian Youth Action

Adults Common Ground - recipe book project (Museum and Art Gallery Nuneaton) Focus on black writers (October 2004) Hull Chinese Cultural Centre London Museums Club (museums) Words Without Frontiers (for refugees and asylum seekers) Reading and library initiatives Libraries and reading promotion for ethnic minorities  National Year of Reading ethnic minority projects Sharing stories across cultures and generations  Articles on EAL initiatives from Literacy Today

Scheme for bilingual pupils in Lancashire

As part of the English as an Additional Language project, funded by the DfES, 10 primary schools in the country will introduce bilingual elements into the classroom. These will include songs and stories in different languages, a competition to design a poster and an initiative to bring parents into schools to record stories that will be played back to children.

The schemes follow a survey in Lancashire schools that found that although 58% of bilingual pupils thought their mother tongue was their strongest language, they were embarrassed about using it for learning. Lancashire county council's EAL coordinator, Azra Butt, believes that the moves could help raise self-esteem. "Children feel proud to speak their first language - that shouldn't stop at home."

(Children Now, 10-16 November 2004)

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Black Male Forum wins praise

The Black Male Forum project, piloted in 2001 with 12 boys at risk of exclusion from school, has been praised by the National Audit Office report on diversity. The boys are trained in public speaking to encourage them to make something of their lives speaking on issues that affect them - racism, sexual relationships, drugs, politics and crime.

The initiative also offers training in information technology, leadership and management skills. The boys now have ambitions which include going to university and becoming doctors, engineers, pilots and actors.

(TES, 29 November 2002)