STARTING at a new school is daunting enough for any young pupil. But imagine having just turned up in a foreign country with unfamiliar customs and unable to speak the language.

For immigrant families recently arrived in the UK, language and cultural differences can make finding out about school just as hard for parents as for their children.

But a pioneering new film project is hoping to smooth the difficult transition by providing a multi-lingual service in 11 languages.

The English Schools Induction Service is a national first and is going to be piloted in Southend before, organisers hope, it spreads across the rest of the country.

The £70,000 project has been four years in the pipeline and contains important information such as school starting times, uniforms, eating habits and other customs and practices.

It has just been launched at Westborough Primary School in Macdonald Avenue, Westcliff, where 38 different languages are spoken by pupils who have arrived from across the globe.

The launch, which included a film premiere-style red carpet and champagne for guests, was attended by Southend mayor, Gwen Horrigan, MP David Amess plus teachers, parents and children from the school.

The project has been launched by the Southend Education Trust with Blade Education, a not-for-profit social enterprise company.

It aims to help children aged four to eleven who do not speak English as their first language and will be used in the borough’s 37 primary schools.

The DVD has 21 two-minute-long films covering key topics including where to sit, the classroom, teachers, toilets, behaviour, playtime and gender equality.

It has been translated into 11 languages, including English, Polish, Urdu, Mandarin Chinese, French and the Zimbabwean language Shona.

A child’s voice is used as the narrator to explain in simple terms to the youngster like a virtual big brother or sister.

All English and foreign primary school pupils who start in 2009 will be able to view the films.

Blade’s creative director Beth Hooper said: “This film explains our culture and what’s happening at the school to children turning up on their first day.

“I think it’s a huge gift to have all these languages spoken.

“Hopefully we can build on this and eventually include senior schools.”

Beth said she hopes to have the films available in 20 languages by the summer and 100 by 2010.

She is also aiming to develop an online service so teachers can access any language they need.

Beth, a Southender, said she was delighted to have kick-started the project in her home town.

She also felt it was a good place to pilot it because Southend has been transformed in the past 20 years to become a multi-cultural town.

She said: “I wanted to give something back to Southend.

“There has been a rapid change in the past 20 years.

“I knew the town’s schools were having a difficult time because of the impact of this so I wanted to help.

Beth said she received tremendous help from headteacher Jenny Davies and her deputy Gerry Bennett, both of whom were singled out for praise at the launch.

Money for the project has come from Futurebuilders England and Southend Education Trust, which is a partnership linking the council with 54 schools in the town.

Beth is also hoping to get backing from the Government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Sandra Roberts, chief executive of Southend Education Trust, said: “Giving children realistic expectations of school life is important to how they settle in and with the added challenge of a child not speaking English that process is doubly complicated.

“Children who have English as an additional language get a real insight into those issues a person born in the UK automatically takes for granted in the different aspects of daily school life.”