English is no longer the first language for the majority of pupils at ONE in NINE schools
- In 200 schools, 90% of pupils or more do not speak English at home
- Some schools 'have enlisted interpreters to help at parents' evenings'
English is not the first language for the majority of children in more than one in nine schools, it emerged today.
There are a total of 1,755 primary and secondary schools in England where more than half of the pupils speak another language, according to official figures.
More than 200 schools have an even more extreme situation, with 90 per cent of children having to learn English as a second language.
Diverse: There are more than 200 schools English is not the first language of nine in 10 pupils (file photo)
Some pupils are arriving at school aged five without having ever used English at all, with others knowing only basic phrases and unable to recognise English writing.
The number of pupils who have English as their second language is reported to have risen by a fifth to almost 1.1million in the past five years.
The huge number of schools where native English speakers are in the minority was revealed by the Daily Telegraph, in an analysis of data provided by schools to the Department for Education.
London has the highest proportion of residents born outside Britain of any region, but the capital does not dominate the list of schools with the most non pupils speaking English as a second language.
At the Sacred Heart Primary School in Sandwell, West Midlands, 99 per cent of pupils do not speak English at home.
Difficulties: But many schools with a large proportion of non-native English speakers are well regarded (file photo)
Of the rest of the top 10 schools, just two are in London, with the others located such as Luton, Rochdale and West Yorkshire.
despite the difficulties of teaching children who were not brought up
speaking English from birth, nine of the 10 schools are rated either
good or outstanding by Ofsted.
Some schools have enlisted interpreters to help at parents' evenings and bilingual teaching assistants for reception classes.
Douglas Carswell, a backbench Tory MP, called for a 'national debate', telling the Telegraph: 'It's time for a national debate about the impact of social cohesion in Britain today. I want to make sure that we create first and second generation Britons.'
spokesman for the Department for Education said: 'We are determined
that all children, whatever their background get a first-class
'Our reforms to the education system, and the hard work of heads and teachers, are ensuring that is becoming the case - last week figures showed that a quarter of a million fewer children are being taught in failing secondary schools than three years ago.'