Roma Slovak teaching success

Story & photos: Rohan Francis

A project which helps Roma Slovak children improve their achievement at local primary schools has taken on 5 trainee teaching assistants in order to expand the service.

The project, which has been developed over the past 3 years by coordinator Zuzana Remperova and staff at Owler Brook Primary School, places multilingual teaching assistants with children who have Roma or Slovakian as their first language.

Specialist training

Recent recruits to the team at Owler Brook started at the beginning of March this year. They all received training in working with children, safeguarding and specialist language skills such as Phonics. The training has allowed the team to assist teaching staff across a number of local schools, including Byron Wood School, Firshill School, Greenlands Junior School in Darnall and Meynell Primary School in Southey Green.

Local trainees

The Messenger spoke to the new team about their experience of working with the children in local schools. Frankie Dirda, aged 19, explained that using a combination of languages enables him to help younger children who may only speak Roma or Slovakian at home. This idea is shared by Nikola Lackova, aged 22 and Patrik Horvath, aged 19, who both speak Slovakian, Roma and English. They agreed that using familiar words helped children get a grasp of English. Patrik also explained that their language skills helped children with maths, basic skills and science.

Simona Dirdova, aged 18, added that children improve more quickly when they can get an understanding of a subject in their language. Simona, who also works at Meynell Primary School, helps with the after-school club and dance activities and would like to become a teacher.

The team also helps with wider issues and have become involved with assisting children’s families. Patrik explained,

“We help at parents’ evenings and home visits. Parents sometimes need help with forms and letters from school.”

There are also opportunities for more creative methods of teaching such as story-telling, drawing, dance and music, which can help children with social skills and to learn about health and fitness. Zuzana’s team also includes Mario Sandor, aged 24, who began working at the school 2 years ago, and Marek Pacan, aged 19, who also works at Firshill Primary. Mario speaks 6 languages and says the team has helped boost achievement, improve language skills and attendance. He said:

“I can help children learn faster by helping with the language. And we can make children feel more comfortable in school. We know a lot of people in the community so we can talk to families about what’s happening in school.”

Golden Zumba!

Marek was involved in advice work at the Pakistan Advice and Community Association before becoming a teaching assistant last September and runs the hugely popular ‘Golden Zumba’ session last thing on Fridays at Owler Brook. He knows the value of the extra help he provides to the children. He said,

“It’s really hard for some children, as their parents don’t speak English at home. When I first arrived in the UK, I didn’t have an assistant to help me with the language. It was very hard for me but the experience means I know exactly what children need in this situation.”

The benefits of the project are evident in the vast improvement seen not just in Roma Slovak children’s academic work but also in their increased attendance, behaviour and engagement with lessons. Headteacher Sue Bridges told us,

“The project has been greatly supported by Sheffield Local Authority. Plans are being proposed to develop the project with Sheaf Training and other schools.”

The team has funding until August 2013 and it is hoped the project will continue next year. Zuzana told us why the project was so important:

“We put the effort into the project because we wanted the Roma community to get engaged in their education. Since Roma workers arrived in the school, we’ve seen parents get more involved, from volunteering at lunch-time to helping with playwork. Once one parent is involved, more will follow.”

The trainees get support from the team at Owler Brook as well as work experience at other schools. Zuzana told us that most of the new recruits had never worked before but their enthusiasm, connections with the local community and good relationships with young people, mean she is convinced “they have a good future”. Sue Bridges added:

“We are so pleased to have employed such positive role models. They are making a really positive contribution to our school.”