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 Young
Interpreters
Newsletter
Issue 16 | December 2014
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Welcome to the 16th issue of the Young Interpreters Newsletter where you will hear from Brighton Hill Community School, The Emmbrook School, Fairfields
Primary School, Rucstall Primary School and King’s Furlong Infant School. Also in this issue are notes regarding Young Interpreters and safeguarding. We are already calling for articles for our next issue. We look forward to hearing from as many Young Interpreters
and coordinators as possible!
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Brighton Hill Community School, Basingstoke
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 My
name is Kumuthu and I’m the new head girl of Brighton Hill Community School. Becoming head girl was a difficult process; we had to do several tasks then a speech in front of all the staff explaining why I want to be head girl and why I would be good at it.
Being part of the Young Interpreter team at Brighton Hill has helped me improve my communication skills. I speak the language Sinhala (originally from Sri Lanka) which is very different to the European languages. We have been involved with primary schools during
the world week doing various activities such as biscuit decorating and Bollywood dancing. I have made new friends in school whilst working with them. Also, it has helped me grow in maturity and responsibility.
We attended the 4th Young Interpreters Conference at QMC. There were a lot of primary schools who attended the conference along with one more secondary school. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day. There were a variety of activities to do run by us and QMC
students: cake decorating, story telling, junk box modeling and many more. It was a joyful day packed with exciting things. Overall, I enjoy being a Young Interpreter because it helps me learn about other cultures and you meet new people through events such
as this.
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Rucstall Primary School, Basingstoke
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 Brighton
Hill Young Interpreters came to Rucstall Primary School to deliver a whole school assembly about the role of Young Interpreters. Rucstall children were surprised to hear that the Young Interpreters at Brighton Hill, speak a total of ten languages between them.
Brighton Hill pupils have also been coming to Rucstall to help a pupil in Year R and a pupil in Year 6 who speak very little English. Miss
Barker, Headteacher, thanked the Young Interpreters for coming along to help our pupils. She then introduced our Rucstall Young Interpreters: Pola, Rose, Brandon, Jazzy, Deebisha, Fatima, Lily, Zainab, Anish and Pedro. We all look forward to working together
to support our children whose first language is not English.
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The Emmbrook School, Wokingham
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 Our
Young Interpreters hosted a visit to our school from 17 teachers from Yunan Province in China. The teachers visited Reading University for 3 months to learn about education in the UK.
The teachers, escorted by the Young Interpreters, visited a range of lessons and joined in. They thoroughly enjoyed their time with us and were impressed
that students train as Young Interpreters to help visitors and EAL students.
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King’s Furlong Infant School, Basingstoke
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 We
are very excited that a new group of Young Interpreters was trained after the summer holiday. Their languages are Telegu, Polish, Tamil, Arabic, French, English, Turkish and Chinese.
Their Headteacher and Young Interpreter Coordinator are very proud of the children who demonstrated a great understanding of what it feels like to be new to the school in addition to being new to English. They are wearing their badge and hat with pride and
are looking forward to welcoming new pupils and families to the school.
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Fairfields Primary School, Basingstoke
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 After
school on Thursday 6 November, the children, parents and staff at Fairfields Primary School held a Diversity Party on the playground. Representatives from Hampshire EMTAS, Costello Technology College, Kala the Arts and the Drum Runners also came to support
the event which included food tasting, art activities, games, music and dance from around the world. The event was free to all our children and their families and friends and the atmosphere in the playground was fantastic. Many of our parents cooked food to
serve on the day representing a number of countries including Poland, Afghanistan, India, Australia, Scotland and England. This was the first time the school has held such an event. Its popularity however is sure to make this an annual event at the school.
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Hampshire EMTAS is holding EAL network meetings across the county again this year. These meetings give participants the opportunity to get to know other school practitioners
in their area and to keep up to date with good practice in relation to Black and Minority Ethnic groups so that they achieve improved outcomes. Several districts focused on the Young Interpreters this term. The Winchester, Eastleigh & Test Valley network met
in Winchester on 6 October whilst the Basingstoke & Deane network met on 6 November. This was an opportunity for participants who are new to our award-winning initiative to learn how to implement it and ensure pupils’ safeguarding. We look forward to hearing
from our new Young Interpreter coordinators in the near future!
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All infant, junior and secondary training and follow up material can be downloaded directly from our
Moodle. Be sure to self-register to get the most out of your Young Interpreter pack.
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Young Interpreters and safeguarding
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Whether or not they are running our Young Interpreter Scheme, many schools will have had to rely on a child to interpret for another child or parent.
This is true of schools with high numbers of learners with English as an Additional Language and of schools where these learners are more isolated. The EMTAS website provides practitioners with the necessary background and guidelines to ensure children who
may interpret at school are kept safe. Read about the dos and don'ts of using children and young people as interpreters at school
here.
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Up and coming courses and events
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Teaching English as an Additional Language (TEAL) 2015
Masters level course delivered in conjunction with the University of Winchester.
Download Recruitment Flyer pdf
Training and Continuing Professional Development
Visit
the EMTAS website to find more about training opportunities for your setting.
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