Our work with Supplementary Schools

Several thousand pupils attend supplementary schools in Manchester. Supplementary schools are community-run, independent organisations that teach elements of language and culture to children, alongside their regular education. They play an important role in the maintenance of community languages in Manchester.

Longstanding partnerships

The project worked with many of Manchester’s supplementary schools to learn more about their work, to flag their important role in the multilingual city, and to address common logistical issues. Events and discussions were organised where supplementary schools were able to share experience and showcase their work.

Support Platform

In February 2017, Multilingual Manchester launched the Supplementary School Support Platform. This structure offered flexible support to address common issues faced by the schools and provided an opportunity for networking with a wide range of organisations. The Supplementary School Support Platform facilitated curriculum enrichment sessions, logistical support through student placements, teacher training and resource development, and offered a collaborative framework through regular meetings.

Curriculum enrichment sessions were delivered in the language taught at the school, by researchers from across The University of Manchester. These interactive sessions involved pupils in exciting hands-on experiments, and gave them an opportunity to learn about research at the university and discuss science and other topics in the relevant language. Curriculum enrichment sessions were delivered in Arabic, Chinese, Polish and Greek, in partnership with researchers from Manchester Institute of Biotechnology.

To find out more about Manchester’s supplementary schools, you can read a report here. This report is based on interviews with staff and pupils from 23 of the city’s supplementary schools, who shared information about school demographics, logistics, curricula and language qualifications, motivations, and sustainability.