Project Overview
The Nunsmoor Centre Trust in Newcastle Upon Tyne was founded in 2011 to enhance the work of The Nunsmoor Centre. Its main aims are to advance education, protect and preserve health and to relieve the effects of poverty.
The area the centre serves is wonderfully culturally diverse, with a wide range of languages spoken. One of the pieces of research they came across when investigating possible projects showed that, while children whose home language is not English can be conversationally fluent in English, within two years of starting school it can take up to five years for their academic level in English to have caught up with their peers. Studies have shown that linking the learning of any new language to the existing skills in the home language, makes it easier to learn and easier to transition between the two languages. With these two things in mind the Dual Language Story Time Project was born.
Using Isla’s grant, Nunsmoor will give families an opportunity to take part in activities that help their children to experience the English language and link it to their home language. The hope is that by working with families with pre-school children they will help to reduce the lag time between conversational and academic levels. While there are a wide range of languages within the local area,they have decided to run the pilot project with the Roma community in the area.