English as an Additional Language (EAL)

EAL Leader- Mrs Alicia Isaac

Link Governor- Mrs Michèle Tayler

Intent Statement

At St John’s Catholic Primary School, we have a number of children arriving with English as an Additional Language (EAL); or in some cases, with limited to no English. Our main aim is to settle these children into school life and encourage them to take part in our daily routines. Teachers and teaching assistants support EAL children by providing classroom visual prompts and aids, adapting planning and encouraging the use of English in social interactions.

Our priority is to ensure that all pupils are given the tools to access a broad and balanced curriculum and provide support if required to enable them to do this. English is learnt throughout the curriculum and pupils are encouraged to play a full part in all learning opportunities. EAL learners make the best progress within a whole school context, where pupils are educated with their peers. To support this, St John’s Catholic Primary School uses a range of assessment materials and classroom strategies to measure progress and ensure that EAL children are given appropriate tools to succeed. The school structure and ethos actively supports EAL pupils to integrate into school life: which values diversity, parental involvement and pupil voice.

Implementation

At St John’s Catholic Primary School, EAL teaching focuses on individual pupil’s needs and abilities, in line with the whole school assessment framework. If an EAL child is not making expected progress, they may have their own EAL assessment profile, to support their progress, which is reviewed every long term.

Differentiated planning is put into place to support EAL children across the curriculum, which is reviewed through regular staff meetings and training. Staff use support strategies to ensure that EAL children have the access to the relevant curriculum.

This includes:

• Collaborative group work
• Enhanced opportunities for speaking and listening
• Effective role models for speaking, reading and writing (peer and adult led support)
• Additional verbal support-repetition, alternative phrasing, peer support, written instructions.
• Additional visual support, e.g. posters, objects, non-verbal clues, pictures, demonstration, use of gesture, etc.
• Bilingual resources, e.g. dictionaries, on-line support, bilingual staff/pupils, texts, key word lists
• Writing frames, directed activities related to texts, such as sentence builders
• Regular feedback from staff
• Opportunities to focus on the cultural knowledge explicit or implicit in texts through EAL groups that pre-teach explicit language and ideas.
• Discussion provided before and during reading and writing activities.
• Learning progression moving from concrete to abstract

Our school aims to address the needs of EAL pupils within the classroom. However, there will be times when it will be appropriate for children to be withdrawn from lessons to receive focused support.