EAL support in British Schools

• Hendon School Facts & Figures

• Difference between EAL and SEN

• UK Primary School integration system

• UK Secondary Schools integration system

• Teaching Tips

EAL students in Hendon School

• 100 Hendon EAL pupils currently not attaining their intellectual ability

• Most Hendon pupils are bilingual

• Ethnicity Survey: each category represented

Languages Spoken at Hendon School English

Gujerati

Urdu

Farsi

Hindi

Arabic

Portuguese

Spanish

Turkish

Greek

Bengali

Punjabi

Japanese

Hebrew

Serbo-Croat

Italian

French

Russian

Not Provided

Other Languages

(many small groups of African and Asian

EAL and SEN

• EAL pupils should work at correct intellectual level (even if English language not yet proficient)

• Withdrawals from class - only necessary when pupils cannot follow lesson at all

(e.g. RE, History, English and MFL)

• EAL pupils eventually catch up with peers

(and sometimes overtake them)

EAL students in Primary School

• Local Primary has fewer than 2 mother tongue English speakers per class

• Pupil’s mother tongue is given status

• Pupils have varying forms of extra support

• Recent new arrivals predominantly come from Poland, Somalia and Portugal

• EAL pupils need context embedded lesson

• Visual support is very helpful to convey

meaning

• EAL pupils initially go through silent phase (usually lasting roughly 6 months)

• Pupils acquire colloquial language within 2 years, academic language takes much longer (usually 5-7 years)

Teaching Tips

Teaching Tips• Greet EAL pupils warmly with correctly spelt /

pronounced name and eye contact

• Involve EAL pupil in lesson as much as possible (e.g. let them give out books/materials)

• Find them a buddy (ideally with same language) encourage use of bilingual dictionaries

• Create activities where pupils interact

Why offer GCSEs and A-Levels in Community Languages?

• Getting a GCSE is motivating for youth.

• Many pupils may otherwise never acquire literacy skills in the language they speak

• It is a concrete affirmation of their ability to use their heritage language proficiently

“There is more to education than just exam results - including self-esteem,

identity, valuing cultural heritage.”

and another nice quote…

“Given appropriate school experiences and intervention and high

expectations by their teachers, they – bilingual learners – can and do

achieve at the same levels as their peers who are already familiar with

the language of the school.”