Getting to Know our New Students

Moving to a new school is difficult at the best of times. Packing up and moving to a new country and culture is even more daunting. With such a diverse ESOL community at St Albans School, our new students enjoy the diversity and level of first language support. In this photo, a group of ESOL students are introduced to our new arrivals.

WELCOME to the 'St Albans ESOL Blog' for 2016

How wonderful it was to see so many ESOL families at school last week. It is always reassuring to meet with the teachers who work with your children during the school day, particularly for families who have recently immigrated to New Zealand. We welcome you all to our school community and look forward to working with you. These sites may provide you with helpful information and assistance should you need an interpreter. This is a general site designed to support migrant families. https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/english-language/learning-english This site will provide you with support should you need an interpreter. http://ethniccommunities.govt.nz//story/how-language-line-works

Fairytale Fun with Finger Puppets

Promoting oral communication is paramount in the early stages of learning a new language and what better way to promote this than with the retelling of a fairytale. While the content of fairytales may vary in minor ways, the key ideas are similar. These foundation speakers are able to role play the parts of Red Riding Hood, Grandma, the wolf and woodcutter. The dialogue went as follows: Teacher: Where did Red Riding Hood go? Child: Grandma house. Teacher: Why did she go to grandma's house? Child: Grandma sick. Teacher: What did Red Riding Hood take to grandma? Child: A basket with cookies and cheese. Teacher: What did she pick in the forest for grandma? Child: Yellow flowers. Teacher: Were they daffodils? Child: Yes Then role play demonstrated what the children knew about what took place in grandma's house. The children were able to recite the lines from the story that related to the wolf's eyes, ears and teeth. They had much pleasure in talking about the outcome for the wolf. Their wolf had a very sore head at the end of the story. Naturally Red Riding and grandma lived happily ever after. The children were asked to sequence the story before their role-play.

Finger puppets bring the characters to life:

Our Farewell Shared Lunch

On Wednesday 12th of August, 2015 a number of our Year 3-6 ESOL students came together to farewell two of their friends and wish them well in their new home and school. It was an opportune time to celebrate cultural diversity within our ESOL community and sample different ethnic foods in the form of a shared lunch. We thank the wonderful parents for their contribution of food, and to those who also found the time to come in and join us. Some students have reflected on the different dishes they sampled and how they felt on the day. "Yah," I thought. "It's good that mum has made Kokis. They are a fried sweet treat made in Sri Lanka. You can find the recipe and instructions on Utube. I really liked the sushi. I found the rice pudding (Kheer) a little strange. I was really happy that we could try foods from different countries. It was great that we were able to get together for lunch. Reflection by Nethasa (Year 4) At the shared lunch, I thought that I would try the sushi. It tasted a bit different. It was reasonably spicy and sweet. I liked the chicken in it the most. The seaweed had an unusual flavour. I kind of liked the sweet rice pudding. One thing I didn't like about the Kheer were the nuts. I am not used to having nuts in rice. Kheer is a very popular rice pudding in Nepal and India. Reflection by Ron (Year 4) I was so happy that my dad was a chef because he made some really yummy Indian food for us to taste. At the shared lunch I saw lots of scrumptious food like; Pecora, Samosa and Sushi. When we tasted the food we found it interesting. I don't really like the tumeric flavour but I did love the Samosa and Pecora. It was great that mum and dad came to share lunch with the ESOL children. Reflection by Vianca (Year 4) On Wednesday the 12th of August we had a shared lunch. It was great that my brother could come too. Friends and families each cooked something to bring. At the shared lunch there were many delicious dishes. Yum! I tried Briyani and Reza tried Sushi and Kokis. He ate many other dishes as well because he hadn't tried them before. I found the Sushi quite different because I hadn't eaten it before.

Comparing and Contrasting Foods

When children come to New Zealand from different corners of the planet, they bring with them a rich knowledge of the foods that they have begun to know as quite specific to their cultural group. Many children brought up in New Zealand are unaware of the reasons for food preferences across religions and cultures. The food pyramid was used in order to get the students to consider which foods were included in their own diet and which were normally omitted. It was reassuring to note that across cultures, children enjoyed a number of fruit varieties and grains. Meat and fish consumption was very dependent on historical and family beliefs as was dairy. Vegetables were popular with most children and easily identified. Then onto learning how to combine good foods into one meal. The children compared and contrasted fruit smoothies and mango lassi. Here are some of the photos taken during the making process. The Results: Banana smoothies were very popular as were strawberry combined with banana. The children thought that they were better than the McDonalds shakes. Mango Lassi was not as popular with 50% of the group who taste tested. They did not have an acquired taste for mango and thought that the yogurt was too strong. They thought that this drink was not like a smoothie or milkshake. The positive outcome was that they had tried a drink that is popular on an Indian menu. They also learned that Indian people use yogurt as a cooling agent.

Preparation for our Production

These photos give you an indication of the fun and cooperation involved in putting a production together. This ESOL group have been rehearsing for a number of weeks. After working together on a shared project the communication between the students is relaxed. Everyone has the same goal, to tell a story and entertain.

Getting Ready for our Performance

An effective way to develop spoken English and writing simultaneously is to have students work out how they can adapt a well known story for Reader's Theatre or a drama.

One of our ESOL groups have done just that. They have read Margaret Mahy's book 'Shopping with a Crocodile',  and adapted it for a narrated play.  
You may like to find out more about Margaret Mahy by visiting this site: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/mahym.html

After a lot of writing and rehearsal, the students are ready to perform their work. St Albans ESOL parents are invited to attend the afternoon performance on Friday 26th June 2015 at 2:10 pm.