E/ME7/6/1

File relating to teaching of Italian to Italian children, including details as follows:

1976 - 1984

From: 1976 To: 1984

- Local Education Authority (LEA) letter to Lord Sandford listing LEA schools in Bedford used for out-of-hours Italian teaching; - memos regarding situation of some schools making no charge for out-of-hours use to teach Italian, some making a half and some a full charge and decision that in future no charges will be levied by any school; - correspondence throughout the period with Italian Vice Consulate and Embassy regarding schools to be used for out-of-hours Italian teaching in the following year; - letter from LEA to Italian Vice Consul noting, inter alia poor discipline of children at the Italian teaching sessions; - letter to Vice Consulate stating that all classes are to finish by 7.45 pm in the interests of economy; - correspondence regarding temporary curtailment of classes during re-organisation of LEA schools outside Luton into lower/middle/upper tiers; - correspondence regarding terms and conditions of hiring schools for out-of-hours teaching; - complaint by head of Newnham Middle, Bedford, regarding poor conduct of children at out-of-hours Italian lessons within the school (including indiscipline, eating in class and petty theft); - notes of meeting between LEA and Italian Vice Consul regarding European Economic Community (EEC) funded pilot project on Italian education in Bedford and other issues; - correspondence with Italian Consul in London who made the observation that most Italian children in Bedford knew no English at age five and that integration was poorer in Bedford than the rest of UK and suggested introducing Italian as a curriculum subject rather than leaving its teaching to out-of-hours sessions, with the LEA response; - letter from head of St.Gregory’s Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic Middle School, Bedford regarding out-of-hours Italian teaching extending for too long a period, resulting in tired children whose homework in other areas would suffer; - Times Literary Supplement article about difficulties with EEC funded mother tongue project in Bedford; - memo regarding resources for teaching Italian and two different approaches, integration through mother-tongue teaching and mother-tongue maintenance; - notes of meeting between LEA and Italian UK Education Inspector regarding Italian teaching situation in Bedford; - notes of meeting to discuss the establishment of an Italian Resource Bank at John Bunyan Upper School, Bedford; - list of contacts in Bedford Italian community; - letter to Italian Consulate informing them of appointment of a teacher to act as liaison between LEA and and Italian Vice Consul in Bedford; - notes on mother-tongue provision for Italian children at the following Bedford schools: Marlborough Lower; Drake Lower; Castle Lower; and Kingsbrook Middle; - notes of meeting between LEA and Italian Vice Consular staff to discuss mother-tongue teaching, Dopo Scuola (out-of-hours Italian teaching) arrangements for academic year, rôle of LEA-Vice Consulate Liaison Teacher; and in-service education initiatives for Italian teachers; - letter from Italian Consul in London regarding some Italian teachers in Bedford not reaching the minimum hours worked necessary to be considered “full-time” and that out-of-hours teaching time allowed by LEA was considered too short; - letter offering £800 worth of Italian teaching books left over from the time-expired European Community funded pilot project to St.Thomas More Roman Catholic Upper School, Bedford, as having the greatest proportion of children of the Italian community; - notes of meeting between LEA and Consular staff to discuss appointment of Italian teachers in Bedfordshire schools; - notes of report by LEA-Vice Consulate liaison teacher regarding Dopo Scuola class arrangements; - correspondence regarding misconduct of Italian teacher at Drake Lower School, Bedford; - statistics on numbers of Bedford middle school pupils learning Italian; - correspondence with National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers regarding teaching of Italian, whether posts were advertised and source of funding for them; - correspondence regarding difficulties in making Italian part of the school curriculum; - memos regarding estimation of the need for Italian teachers in primary schools.

Access to material may be permitted under supervision

item

National Association of Schoolmasters,
Union of Women Teachers

EDUCATION, multicultural education, ethnic minorities, curriculum, modern languages, Italian, Italians, teaching, business correspondence, Local Education Authority, Secretary of State, schools, BEDFORD, fees/charges, vice consulates, embassies, CHILDREN, behavioural difficulties, rules and regulations, buildings and land use, education buildings, complaints, headteacher, Bedford Newnham Middle School, European Economic Community, funding, London, English, curriculum Italian, St.Gregory's Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic Middle School, Times Literary Supplement, John Bunyan Upper School, employment, Marlborough Lower School, Drake Lower School, Castle Lower School, Kingsbrook Middle School, books, St.Thomas More Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic Upper School, misconduct, population statistics, middle schools, National Association of Schoolmasters, Union of Women Teachers, NASUWT, primary schools