BURY became a mecca for the multi-lingual yesterday, June 17, when it hosted a major regional conference.

Around 150 bilingual language assistants, who work in schools across the north of England, were in town to take part in the event.

And where better to hold the event than near to Bury's Kosovar refugees.

Participants for the conference came from as far afield as Liverpool, Darlington and Newcastle.

The annual conference is the only opportunity for bilingual language assistants to meet with each other, listen to professionals in the field and share good practice.

This year the conference theme was Ethnic Minority Achievements: The New Era.

It looked at how the language assistant's work has been affected by recent changes introduced by the Department for Education and Employment. There were also workshops on how Chinese children acquire language, how parents can be involved with recent government initiatives, the national literacy and national numeracy hour plus mentoring and refugees.

The keynote speaker for the event at the New Kershaw Centre on Deal Street, was Sylvia Sham from Manchester's Wai Yin Chinese Women's Society.

Mr Ian Jones, chairman of the Northern Association of Support Services for Equality and Achievement (NASSEA), said: "I am confident that like similar events in previous years, everyone left with a greater understanding of the issues than they had when they came. They also enjoyed the day and enjoyed networking with others from other authorities."

Mr Pinaki Ghoshal, head of Bury Council's curriculum and language access service, said: "This year the event almost did not happen. Originally it was scheduled to be held at the Geoffrey Kershaw Centre but we had to make some frantic last-minute arrangements when that became a reception centre for the refugees from Kosovo.

"In fact, holding our event so close to the refugees will, I'm sure, have brought home to all of us the importance of getting things right and delivering an efficient and effective service that meets the needs of all bilingual pupils, including our newly arrived refugees."

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