EAL

Here, at Broomwood Primary School, we have a high percentage of children who have English as an additional language. We are aware that our catchment of children is changing, and we must cater to this. It is for this reason that children with EAL are becoming a priority in our school and as such, we have created a graduated approach and whole school provision for these learners. These approaches cater for all children, regardless of their need.
Our core values of Welcoming, Nurturing, Respect, Commitment and Togetherness are at the heart of everything we do.

Intent

As a school we aim to:

● Welcome the cultural, linguistic and educational experiences of learners with EAL contribute to the school

● Provide a safe, welcoming and nurturing environment for newly arrived learners with EAL where they are accepted, valued and inspired

● Raise learner achievement and aspirations for those with EAL

● Enable our learners with EAL to become confident, and to acquire the language skills needed to reach their full academic potential.

● To liaise with parents/carers, working in partnership to facilitate progress

● Ensure all children’s languages, cultures and identities are represented in classrooms and throughout the school

● Ensure equal access to the National Curriculum and the achievement of their educational potential.

● Be proactive in removing barriers that stand in the way of our EAL pupils’ learning and success. As an inclusion School, we understand that a limited knowledge of English does not reflect a lack of ability, intelligence or knowledge but it can heighten anxiety and affect a learner’s belonging and contribution to their community.

See below for additional information on provision for all our learners across the school.

If Special Education Needs are identified, EAL earners will have equal access to the School’s SEN provision.

See below information on provision for all EAL learners who require additional support.

Implementation

Providing a welcoming and supportive induction into the school by:

• Seeking information from parents and new pupils about cultural background, previous educational experience and achievements, special interests, and skills, dietary, faith and dress requirements.

• Conducting a tour of school and explaining how it is organised .Talking through rights and responsibilities for parents and pupils (home work, uniform, lunchtime arrangements, start & end of school day, etc). We aim to answer any questions parents and children may have.

• Negotiating an induction programme to suit the new child’s needs.

• Ensuring that host classes are prepared to welcome their new classmates

Ensuring that all staff are aware of the pupils new to English and what they can do to support their welcome into our school.

• Being prepared to address any difficulties that may emerge during the induction period. A new starter pack will be given to the parent/carers with literature where necessary will be in their home language.

Intervention and personalised work is planned by the teaching staff to ensure that children are given the necessary tools to progress with their learning.
Pre-teach vocabulary for all subject areas.
Knowledge organisers for each subject
EAL intervention for children that are below expected (Mrs Brown Lead EAL TA)
EAL intervention for children that are extremely below expected (1:1 with Sarah Christie, EAL teacher)
Word books have been introduced to children who require them.
Graduated approach is followed where a child requires additional support.

All children in our school, including those with English as an Additional Language, follow the requirements of the National Curriculum. Wherever possible, after Induction or specialist assessments, we do not withdraw pupils from lessons to receive EAL support as learning needs are best met alongside their peer group. EAL team support is focused on enabling the class teacher to assess, plan and provide appropriate learning activities to help pupils access the curriculum and to develop English language skills.

Impact

We will use a variety of ways to assess the knowledge, understanding and skills learnt by the pupils in all areas of the curriculum.

Providing advice and the use of EAL strategies used by class teachers will help to show even further, the learning and progress made by the EAL pupils in our school. Training teachers and new members of support staff are also advised and supported with developing their EAL strategies and to be confident in delivering quality first teaching.

We are determined to create an inclusive culture of learning where all children will be challenged in their thinking, to achieve to the best of their abilities and strive to become life-long learner

EAL Policy

Broomwood Primary School

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

“Everyone at Broomwood Primary School has the right to an outstanding education”.

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Introduction

The term EAL is used when referring to pupils where the mother language at home is not English. This policy sets out the School’s aims, objectives and strategies with regard to meeting the needs and celebrating the skills of EAL pupils and helping them to achieve the highest possible standards. All pupils need to feel safe, accepted and valued in order to learn effectively and become successful members of society. For pupils, who are learning English as an additional language, this includes recognising and valuing their home language and background. As a school, we are aware that bilingualism can be a useful learning tool and that all EAL pupils can make a valuable contribution to their school community. We take a whole school approach, including ethos, curriculum and education against racism through Anti-bullying week. We also learn about and celebrate a range of different religions and their celebrations through Religious Education days and topic lessons.

The Context of Broomwood Primary School

At our school, there are approximately 10 languages spoken in the family home (not including

dialects).

On entry to the school, information is gathered about:

Pupils’ linguistic background and competence in other language/s
Pupils’ previous educational experience
Pupils’ family and biographical background
Pupils’ are assessed within two weeks of entry with an assessment proforma

Mrs Stephani has been nominated to have responsibility for EAL, and supports the child’s entry into school. Mrs Stephani also works closely with the class teacher and the EAL support teacher, Mrs Christie.

5 Stage Model for Language Acquisition

A. New to English

A child may:

Use first language for learning and other purposes.
Remain silent in the classroom.
Copy/repeat some words and phrases.
Understand some everyday English expressions but have minimal or no English literacy.
Follow day-to-day social communication in English.
Begin to use spoken English for social purposes.

Understand simple instructions and follow narrative/accounts with visual support.
Develop some skills in reading and writing.
Become familiar with some subject specific vocabulary.

A child at this stage needs significant support.

B. Early Acquisition

A child may;

Participate in learning activities with increasing independence.
Express themselves orally in English but structural inaccuracies are still apparent.
Requires ongoing supporting literacy, particularly for understanding text and writing.
Follow abstract concepts and more complex written English.

A child at this stage requires support to access the curriculum fully.

C. Developing Competence

A child may:

Developing oral English well, allowing successful engagement in activities across the curriculum.
Read and understand a wide variety of text.
Written English may lack complexity.
Demonstrate evidence of errors in grammatical structure.

A child at this stage needs support to access subtle nuances of meaning, to refine English usage, and to develop abstract vocabulary.

D. Competent

A child at this stage can operate across the curriculum to a level of competence nearing to that of a pupil who uses English as his/her first language. They may still make grammatical errors and need support to develop their linguistic skills.

E. Fluent

A child at this stage can operate across the curriculum to a level of competence equivalent to that of a pupil who uses English as his/her first language.

Background

The language profile at Broomwood Primary School is complex and changing. In recent years there has been a rapid increase in the number of EAL pupils (currently 34% of the register) and this trend is continuing (Nursery 47%). Our EAL children come from a wide range of language backgrounds (currently 27 home languages) and have varied levels of proficiency in English with a significant number of the cohort being new arrivals to the country (INA pupils). Key Stage 2 has had particularly high levels of Hong Kong arrivals.

Aims

Induction

To provide newly arrived children and their parents with a welcoming and accessible environment.
To provide a visual Welcome pack for parents and ensure that the school website can be easily translated into our core languages. The School will also endeavour to provide translations of letters in these languages, when requested.
To develop an induction programme (Mrs Christie, EAL support teacher) tailored to the individual child’s language needs. Additional classroom support is also used, such as communication fans, first language welcome and matched language buddies.

Teaching and Learning

We will:

Celebrate Bilinguism and offer opportunities for children to speak their home language.

Give newly arrived children time to absorb English (there is a recognised ‘silent period, children can contribute in class in non-verbal ways) and additional intervention if they are at the very early stages of English and aquisition’).
To identify key vocabulary for each subject
To pre teach new vocabulary wherever possible .
Support writing with a range of EAL techniques (writing frames, bilingual books, bilingual dictionaries, word diaries, wordmats, word walls)
Encourage E.A.L. pupils to use English by generating opportunities for active participation in lessons. Create opportunities during lessons for speech (speaking frames, fluent talking buddies, modelled speech and consistent instructional language).
To welcome and support EAL parents with their child’s education

Inclusion and Diversity

To value different cultures and celebrate diversity (Using home language, topic choice, continuous provision enhancements, books, songs and music, festivals and assemblies)

The School welcomes and values disabled people taking an active part of school life. Broomwood Primary School is keen to make sure that we do not make it difficult for disabled children, young people and adults to be involved in every part of school life. We have a legal duty not to discriminate against disabled people and to comply with the Equalities Act 2010.

Broomwood Primary School recognises that disabled people are very diverse and include people with a physical impairment, visual impairment, hearing impairment, learning difficulty, specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia), mental health issues, people who are deaf, British sign language users and people with long term health conditions.

Broomwood Primary School is committed to challenging discrimination and promoting equality at all levels and in all aspects.

SEN

It is recognised that there are some pupils with EAL who may need SEN provision for specific learning needs. However, a child is not regarded as requiring SEN provision on the basis of learning EAL alone.

Resources

Broomwood School has a growing range of dual language story books and bilingual dictionaries. Wach classroom has been allocated a basket of multilingual books which will be exchanged between classes each half term. Parental and community links are valuable resources and will continue to be developed. Broomwood has also a growing number of staff who are confident to use a foreign language familiar to them, to communicate with parents.

Assessment

The School Registration form identifies pupils where English is their second language. We carry out on-going recording of attainment and progress in line with agreed school procedures. All children with EAL will be baselined on entry into school if necessary. This will allow for efficient planning and preparation to be completed by teaching staffing, allowing the new child to have an equal opportunity to access the curriculum.

Placement in Teaching Groups/Classes

We recognise that E.A.L. pupils, who may be new to English and to the UK, need continuity and security as they start school.

New Arrivals therefore should:

have access to the whole curriculum,
be taught with their peers,
be placed in groups where they will see models of good behaviour,
be placed in groups with fluent English speakers who will provide them with good language models,
be placed in as high a set as possible ie with their intellectual/academic equals,
be given survival lessons at the beginning of their time at Broommwood to support them with mainstream lessons (if required).
be not automatically placed with Learning Support pupils
not subjected to standardised reading tests in order to place them in teaching groups.

Staff training

To provide staff with training to develop their knowledge and skills for teaching EAL learners.
To provide regular EAL updates at staff meetings
This policy is a statement of Broomwood Primary School’s aims and strategies to ensure that all EAL pupils fulfil their true potential.

Useful links

Below are some links to websites that you may find helpful for yuor child's learning.

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/

https://ictgames.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

https://www.timestables.co.uk/