Young poets praised

Languages from Polish to Pashto have been used by youngsters to achieve success in a major poetry competition.

The multilingual children, who attend schools in Renfrewshire, have won six awards in the Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition, run by SCILT (Scotland’s National Centre for Languages).

Two of the winners are refugees.

Bahadar Esakhiel, 12, a pupil at Linwood’s East Fulton Primary School, was an unaccompanied minor who is originally from Afghanistan.

Ruth Cunningham, an English as an alternative language specialist with Renfrewshire Council, said: “Before living Scotland he had not been educated in school. Yet within a matter of months of attending school, Bahadar learned to read and write in English.

“His poem Man of the Match was written in his home language Pashto, and transcribed by his teacher, Shanaz Bashir.”

Meanwhile, Ara b i c was the language used by Mohammad Al Chouhel, 11, for his poem.

A pupil of Paisley’s Williamsburgh Primary School, he came to Scotland with his parents and brother as part of the Syrian resettlement programme.

He wrote a metaphorical poem called A New Day.

Mohammad is described by headmistress Nov Scott as “a joy to teach.”

Ruth Cu n n i n g ham added: “We are so proud of the pupils who entered this year’s competition because they gave us a chance to hear their other voices and to learn more about other cultures.

“Each child has an incredible story to tell and we are especially proud of Bahadar and Mohammad who have faced difficult circumstances”