| NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS of the children at St Paul’s C of E Primary School in Tower Hamlets, east London, are from Bangladeshi families, and, although most of them speak English, says Darren Rubin, the deputy head, many of their parents do not. Yet, like all primary- school children, they need help with their reading.
Using a grant from the borough, and with support from Trowers & Hamlins, a City law firm, the school has produced a bilingual DVD, Let’s Read Together, using some of the children and parents from St Paul’s as actors to give useful tips.
Rule number one is to turn off the television before starting, and then read simple stories with a parental finger tracing each word. The DVDs — in English or Bengali — have been distributed to all the children in the school, and to other schools in the London diocese.
They not only help the children with their reading, but their non-English parents as well, including, Mr Rubin tells me, the school’s growing number of Eastern European families. The DVD was recently launched with the support of the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Councillor Ann Jackson (left). Mr Rubin says that the school can send copies of the DVD to any other school that is interested. Phone St Paul’s office: 0207 480 6581.
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