18003 Polish-speaking children in London schools

Note to all London Borough children and skills departments The recorded figures for Polish speaking children in London schools May 2012    London Borough May-07 Dec-08 Nov-09 Apr-11          May-12 Barking & Dagenham       65 170 175        260             289 Barnet                   541 654 750     1058           1250 Bexley                   NR NR 60      111             102 Brent                     205 619 714      866             979   Bromley                   25 23 34       69              56 Camden                   101 181 184      188              218 City of London           12 1 NR       NR              NR Croydon                   246 346 368      468            593 Ealing                   1,277 1,876 2088     2536            2889 Enfield                   289 406 452      713              706 Greenwich                 76 192 218      301              282 Hackney                   275 369 402      511              577 Hammersmith & Fulham     417 387 348      370              302 Haringey                 552 671 757    1047            1102 Harrow                   254 401 449      528              481 Havering                 43 72 106      148              148 Hillingdon               159 306 399      503              592 Hounslow                 640 826 764    1178             1358 Islington                 135 179 192       210             236 Kensington & Chelsea     129 114 138     167             163 Kingston                 105 122 172      237              275 Lambeth                   194 426 473      509              585 Lewisham                 173 248 293      332              402 Merton                   269 434 630      833              991 Newham                   304 481 525      674              725 Redbridge                 118 182 249      304             367 Richmond                 141 179 189      237              265 Southwark                 127 157 146      210              241 Sutton                   74 109 164      205              208 Tower Hamlets             95 148 117      170              168  Waltham Forest           324 475 503      578              685 Wandsworth               420 481 523      637              677 Westminster               73 134 112      117              91 Total for all Boroughs     7,958 11,369 12,694   16,275        18,003 ©  Wiktor Moszczynski “NR” means “No Record”. The total for May 2012 is a 126% increase on the figure for May 2007. The statistics are normally gathered in January of each year. 25 May 2012 Dear colleagues, - At last in the last week the remaining 3 London boroughs were able to provide me with the January statistics for Polish-speaking children in London. - In the end only the City of London was unable to provide the figures. It is interesting to note the trends - with the dramatic increase in pupil numbers in the outer boroughs and some of the southern inner boroughs where housing is a little cheaper, while the numbers in the more prosperous central area - Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster has dropped. - In view of the fact that around 20,000 children are being born in the UK annually with a Polish parent, the presence of these Polish children is likely to be a permanent feature in the ethnic mix as more and more school places and educational resources have to be provided for them and their induction into the British way of life and the English language.. The difference in statistics between 2007 and 2012 for Boroughs such as Ealing is worth noting - the increase in Ealing alone of 1612 pupils is the equivalent of 3 new primary schools. - Of course a proportion of these children are second and third generation Polish with a good knowledge of English but those who do need induction classes, along with other children from EU and immigrant families, do draw on considerable Borough resources. Ultimately latest statistics show that many children with a second language other than English do better in their later exams and in particular in maths, science and music and there is much pressure from their families to keep up with their schoolwork. In fact some Polish parents have been heard to complain that their children are not sufficiently stretched by the English school syllabus. = Also we find in the Polish community that many of these children play an important role in the further integration of their parents into British society. -Around one quarter of these children also attend Polish Saturday schools in London and thus have a heavy workload. It is also important to bear in mind that the overwhelming majority of the Polish parents of these children are UK taxpayers and contribute to their local Council Tax which pays for the schools. Please feel free to use this information in any way you may find useful in your Borough. Best regards