Like many schools across the capital, Tollgate, in Newham, East London, is a large multicultural primary school, says Tom Canning. More than 70% of our children speak English as a second language and we have 42 languages represented from 35 different countries - a reflection of the diversity of the borough's population.
Some may view this with alarm or concern, but as headteacher of this vibrant learning community, I see this linguistic and cultural diversity as one of our greatest strengths.
It continues to inspire me that the majority of my pupils are bilingual or multilingual. The knowledge and skills that the children have in their first language is readily transferred into their acquisition of English.
In fact, the children's bilingualism is a real positive and their thirst for knowledge and learning is something their monolingual peers gain great benefit from. We need to firmly squash this urban myth that language limitation equates to conceptual limitation.
In London, it is pleasing to see that many of our highest achieving schools have large numbers of children who speak English as a second language. Walking into these schools, there is a happy buzz of learning formed through innovative and exciting practice that promotes equality of access through a culturally inclusive curriculum.
Our families new to the UK fully understand that a good education offers life choices for their children's futures. Our parents are very supportive and keen to promote education within their households as having high status. This is a well-trodden path of economic and political migration into this country over successive generations.
We have a lot to learn from the exceptional practice evident in our multicultural schools enabled through recognised funding that supports children at the earliest stages of English acquisition.
It is right that the government supports the importance of modern foreign language teaching in our schools, and as such our multicultural schools with many bilingual pupils on roll have a head start in their learning. These pupils are highly skilled and have much to offer our communities.
Tom Canning is headteacher of Tollgate primary school in Newham
