My first school in Birmingham was Tiverton Primary School. It was the nearest to my house, that’s why we chose it. I started there a month after my family moved to Birmingham from Indonesia. Because of the education system in England, I directly joined in Year 5 even though I just started Year 4 when I was in Indonesia.

It was a pretty terrifying moment, as I didn’t understand English back then. However, the teachers were very friendly and I realised that there were some people who are foreign like me.

During that time, I also had learning support at school during lessons, so that I could improve my grammar and vocabulary. When you’ve learnt enough and your English is better, you wouldn’t have learning support anymore.

I was not enjoying school that time. I didn’t understand a thing the teacher was saying and I had no friends. I didn’t talk much, as I was afraid that my grammar would go horribly wrong.
Despite my awful English, the things I did in my primary school were pretty cool. I went to lots of trips to theatres, Shakespeare’s birthplace and lots more. The reason why we went to those places is because we were learning about them. For example, when we went to Stratford, at school we were learning about Shakespeare and his plays.

In Year 5, we went on a trip to a theatre to watch James and the Giant Peach. It was really fun, as the characters really came to live and it was interactive too. They had amazing effects and it was a really good trip.

For each half term, you have a topic you will be working on for that half term, such as Ancient Greek, Ancient Egypt, Victorian, World War 2 or World War 1, Tudors and lots more. Most of them are about history but some are not, such as chocolates, space, and mythical creatures.

It took time for me to learn English. When I was in Year 6, my English improved a lot and my levels in the lessons increased. I had lots of friends and was one of the brightest people in the class. For my SATs test, I was one of the people who received the highest level out of the whole class.

When I was in Year 6, at around the end of term, I went to this residential for two nights and three days. We had lots of activities and team works like high ropes, abseiling, raft building, fencing and lots more. It is seriously a cool experience.

For our leavers trip, we went to Star City. There, we played bowling first and it was really cool and I had a strike! Then we went to Laser Quest and it was great fun and exciting.

Last we did Mini Golf, and I had the best score out of my team. All of these activities were the first time I’ve done them and I enjoyed them very much and it was a great trip to end primary school!

When I started secondary school, it was all over again, except that I could speak English fluently. I had to make new friends again, but it didn’t take that long. The secondary school is way bigger than my primary school, as there were more pupils and lessons. There are six forms and your SATs levels put you into one of the forms. If you haven’t done the SATs, you will have to do a test based on basic numeracy and literacy. If you are in the middle-group or low-group forms, you could move up to the higher form if you work is above the average class.

However, before secondary school actually started, there was a summer school, which was taken in the summer holidays for two weeks. There were many activities, and we were learning about World War One. There were four groups you can choose: Science, Drama, Art and Adventure. We also went to different places, such as the National Memorial Arboretum, Blakesley Hall and lots more. On the last day of summer school, we had a final show for the parents. It is a great way to make new friends and learn the way around the school.

So far, I haven’t had any school trips from my secondary school as I just finished the first half term, but there were many activities you can do. There was an African Themed Day, where I learned about African drums, dances, foods and lots more. There was also an International Day, where the teachers speak in another language than English and speak with that language for the whole lesson.
Luckily, the teachers in my primary and secondary school were friendly, supportive and understanding, and I’m sure it’s the same for other schools too. So if you just came to England and worrying that you wouldn’t fit in or don’t understand anything, do not worry because the teachers will support you and you will slowly (or quickly) learn and become an English child. If I could fit in at school and speak English, then so could you.

Farsya Izzati Widodo
Secondary School Student – Selly Park Technology College, Birmingham