Josef joined the Year 3 class you work in two weeks ago. He is 8 years old and arrived to this country from Lithuania. His mother and father work in the restaurant business, and made the difficult decision to relocate their family when they received offers to work in the restaurant of an old friend in London – as a chef and front-of-house manager respectively.
Josef had very little English on arrival, and was dropped off at the school by his older sister Magda, who is 13. She was on her way to her first day at her own school, but seemed fairly confident, and most importantly, was able to communicate fairly well in English. Magda makes a fairly favourable impression on you and Josef’s class teacher. She tells you that she is an avid reader of English books and that she spent a month as an 11-year old on a Lithuanian-British educational exchange programme, and lived with an English family in Kent.
Although a little nervous about her own first day at school, Magda seems confident and happy to be in London. About Josef’s prior learning/education and she replies to tell you that Josef was schooled in Lithuania for 2 years previously, and that Mathematics was his favourite subject. She says that his teachers in Lithuania did not express any concerns about Josef learning ability. In untimely assessments of Josef on arrival at your school, you find (unsurprisingly) that he understands few instructions in English and as a result, has been placed in the lower ability group in your class.
He is quiet as well as withdrawn during lessons, but is active as well as happy outdoors, during playtime especially, when in the company of other Lithuanian-speaking pupils. This week, you overhear informal staffroom conversations that suggest that some teachers suspect a learning disability (SEN) may be the cause of Josef’s quietness in lessons. You are later informed that an educational psychologist in the borough has been contacted to conduct an assessment of Josef’s needs, although from experience, you know that it may be some months before the outcome of that assessment will be known.
