How does a mainstream school support new arrivals - Essay Example

ganised but it is important that they are organised in such a way that there is a positive ethos and a learning atmosphere where every child succeeds in some way and where every adult works towards helping every child achieve his or her maximum potential’. Generally, the main purpose of schools in accordance with the above researcher is ‘to develop the intellectual, social, emotional and physical abilities of all children’ (Smith, 2002, 4). Although this purpose is absolute understandable in practice there are many cases where schools fail to meet the necessary requirements set by the governors and the social context (ethics) and as a result they can lead to the opposite direction: the creation to the children of severe ‘psychological injuries’ related with their presence in the school environment but also within their families (the influence of conflicts created within a school environment often ‘follows’ children to their homes).

When dealing with children that have recently entered a school environment, the difficulties during their ‘adaptation’ within the new school can be many. Issues like gender or race discrimination, equality and inclusion are then very likely to appear. The behaviour of children towards these ‘adverse’ conditions is usually depended on the support offered by the school administrator and the staff either directly (psychological support, punishment of those who have the responsibility for this situation) or indirectly (provision of extra benefits compared to other pupils of the same school).

In this paper the main issue under examination is the support offered to bilingual learners in a particular Scottish school (the one of the Secondary Schools in the Support for Learning Department). Issues like the access to curriculum, barriers in language, equality, discrimination and social exclusion are being examined in order to identify the most appropriate plan of action for the development of support offered to bilinguals