Bradford Conference: Emerging role for supplementary schools

Finding practical solutions for challenging times

Saturday 15^th July 2017, 9.30am to 1.30pm

Great Hall, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP

Supplementary schools provide part-time educational opportunities for children and young people, primarily from minority ethnic communities. They commonly offer mother-tongue language classes, faith and cultural studies, alongside activities such as sport, music, dance and drama, as well as supporting National Curriculum subjects.

Supplementary Schools are established and managed by community members, often on a voluntary basis, and operate from community centres, youth clubs, religious institutions and mainstream schools. While many supplementary schools are small local groups run by parents, others are part of larger organisations that provide a range of services. There are an estimated 3,000-5,000 such schools in England and over 100 supplementary schools running in the district attended by over 10,000 children.

Supplementary schools being at the heart of their community, have a key role to play in building a fair, integrated and tolerant society by giving pupils the skills, knowledge and opportunities to learn with, from and about those from different cultures, beliefs and backgrounds and to develop shared values.