This extract is from the newsletter, with a link to the full piece at the bottom. If you want to find out more about the work of the Language for Learning Group, please contact carol.satterthwaite@btinternet.com

In this month's newsletter we take a look at some of the fantastic activities that are happening in Bradford, which highlight how services are working together to improve the lives of the children and young people they support.

Bradford is celebrated as an extremely diverse city; culturally, socially and economically. Schools range from the inner city to the suburban and semi-rural. There are 140 different mother-tongue languages spoken by children in primary schools in the Bradford district with 43 per cent of pupils (23,000 of 54,146) speaking English as a second language. A commissioned report by Better Communication CIC (June 2013) estimated that 47% or 3699 pupils enter Reception classes in Bradford district schools each year with impoverished language skills.

Two dedicated groups of professionals are working together to develop schools’ understanding of the importance of language for learning and social development.

To read the full article, written by Carol Satterthwaite from Bradford’s Language for Learning Group and Catherine Pass from the Cognition and Learning Service, go to: www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/254210/talking_about_bradford.doc