Where parents have a choice of schooling, a variety of factors need considering when choosing an appropriate school for a child. The language (or languages) used in the school is an important part of that decision. Language should not be the only factor. Schools which support children's bilingualism range from the excellent, to the good, to the tolerable, and include the bad. A bilingual school is no guarantee of an effective or successful school. The ethos of the school, the commitment of the teachers, the success of the school in achieving literacy and numeracy, creativity in the expressive arts, a sound scientific foundation, moral and religious development, a well integrated and harmonious relationship between pupils, effective cooperation with parents are just some of the factors that parents need to consider in deciding upon a suitable school.

In inquiring about the language policy of the school, it is important to hunt down the real language goals of the school. Schools are increasingly good at self-publicity, broadcasting missionary aims with regard to language and other policies. Visits to classrooms, careful questioning of the Headteacher, School Administrator, and other teachers will reveal the language reality of the school and what a school actually achieves rather than what it says it hopes to achieve. Don't rely on the stated aims and objectives (or mission statement) of the school. Seek out the actual outcomes and track record of the school. Actions speak louder than words; performance is more important than promises.

In a language minority situation, the parent is likely to be interested in the minority language being present in the primary and the secondary school where possible. Sometimes called heritage language education, the aim of the school will be to support language development in the minority language. Literacy is encouraged in the minority language first. Around seven years of age, the majority language is likely to be introduced in the classroom. Once literacy in the minority language is well established, literacy in the second language - a majority language - soon develops. Generally, education through the minority language for a language minority child is the best option. A language minority child tends to be more successful in the curriculum than a similar child going to the majority language school. This will now be explained.

When children are raised in the majority language at home, a different policy can be adopted about bilingual education. Children from majority language homes appear to be successful when taught initially through a different language. Eventually, such children are taught through both languages in the primary school. Through a gentle immersion at an early age in a second majority language, children become bilingual and biliterate with no loss to their academic performance. The essential point about such schools is that a child's home majority language is not replaced but added to (i.e. another majority language is gained).

A similar pattern is found with majority language children taught through a minority language. This is currently the case in Wales where increasing numbers of English-speaking parents opt to send their children to Welsh-medium primary and secondary schools. Particularly when such children start their education in Welsh at age four or five, their English language competence and curriculum performance does not suffer. Instead, they add a language and culture without cost to their home language and achievement in different school subjects.

The answer to this question has highlighted that a school may say it has a policy of bilingualism. Its real intentions, its effectiveness in producing bilingual and biliterate children, and typical outcomes in both languages need to be carefully assessed by parents. Some bilingual schools are really routes into majority language monolingualism. Schools which teach through the medium of the minority language and those that introduce majority language children to a second majority or a minority language are the ones where bilingualism and biliteracy is most cultivated. Some bilingual schools are usually effective because they have this extra commitment to children's language development.