Support for non-English speakers

August 2013

Staff at all our schools – within every age range – are extremely experienced in welcoming children and parents from all around the world for whom English is not their mother tongue. We deal with children of all levels, from those who do not speak or understand a word, to those who simply need a little extra support with spelling or grammar. We are very practiced in assessing children coming from different educational backgrounds and systems and being aware of how that can initially impact on their learning in the classroom.

What is EAL? EAL is short for English as an Additional Lan-guage. In many schools they talk about ESL (Eng-lish as a Second Language) but lots of our pupils already speak two or more languages so we use the term EAL.

Who has EAL lessons? There are about 80 nationalities at The BSN. This makes our classes rich with multi-cultural diversity which we love to celebrate and use in our curricu-lum. Many of the pupils from these 80 different countries speak enough English to access our cur-riculum, but for those who cannot we provide sup-port both within the mainstream classroom and in separate EAL classes, as necessary.

An individual approach We appreciate that moving to a new country can be an anxious time for parents and children alike, and that the challenge of learning a new language can cause extra concerns. We want to assure you that we are here to listen to those concerns and to help you and your child settle into school as quickly and smoothly as possible. That process starts from the very first time that you contact the admissions department. We treat all children as individuals and work hard to ensure that we fully understand the specific situation and needs of all our students.

Junior School EAL Learners

What is the programme used for teaching EAL learners? Learning English as a foreign language is different to learning English in a school where all the les-sons are taught in English. Your child has to learn English to communicate (social purposes) and also English for all the different subjects (academic purposes). Students who are new to learning English will begin by learning vocabulary needed to express their everyday needs and for normal schoollife. This will then be built upon as they progress and gain in knowledge and confidence. The level of support given to EAL beginners will be more intense when they first join the BSN and a wide range of resources will be used to support learning – including specialised computer programmes. The children also need to be able to work in their classroom on the same lessons as their classmates. Of course this is not easy when you are at the early stages of understanding and using English. So the class teachers differentiate the lessons to enable all children to take part. This means they may give a different text to be read, or ask childrento work on the same learning objective but in a different way, or they may ask a fluent user of English to record another child’s ideas for them. There are many different ways! The EAL teachers also work in classrooms with the class teacher. The EAL teacher will focus on the English language development and the class teacher the subject content. Together they meet the needs of an EAL learner.

Your child’s learning journey in English The Junior Schools track your child’s progress in the English language using “steps”. We call this a learning journey. Each step is a level of fluency. For children in Foundation Stage years there are Steps of English appropriate to their age. For children in Years 1–6 there are seven steps of fluency. The level of fluency is set against the normal expectations ofa native English speaking child of the same age.have opportunities throughout the year to discuss your child’s progress and what step they are work-ing on.

How do we help your child? We use an integrated skills approach focusing on the skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and

Writing using a knowledge of Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation. We help your child in various different ways: by supporting him or her in the classroom helping them to access their lessons; by giving them small group lessons to improve their English; by providing them with the specific lan-guage they need to study their other lessons; by giving them homework and by providing them with reading materials for use at home.

How can you help your child? One of the most important ways you can help your child is by reading with them in English. We will provide graded books and resources appropriate to your child’s level to support you with this, but please do not forget the importance of your child’s first language – they should continue to use their mother tongue as well as English.

How will my child communicate when they have no English?Most children are very good at using gesture and demonstrating to communicate their needs. We use a lot of visual resources to support communi-cation and of course technology – such as Google translate. If possible we use adults who can speak your child’s language so they can communicate their needs straight away and also to translate instructions and important information. If your child can read and write in another language, then in the settling in phase, they are encouraged to use this to complete work in the classroom. Using thelanguage they are already literate in helps them to settle in quickly and allows them to work at their level whilst developing English. We also use other children who act as translators or who can help a new child to settle in and feel welcome.

How long will it be before my child is fluent? This is a very difficult question to answer! What is fluent? Most of the children who come to the Junior Schools are able to communicate with their teachers and friends successfully within one year, but they may be making many errors. We encour-age the children to communicate andspeak even if they make mistakes. Your child’s progress will depend on their personality, their age, their previous school experience and how quickly they can settle in to their new school.

Senior School EAL Learners

How do I know if my childneeds EAL support? At the beginning of each academic year, the Senior School tests all EAL pupils transferring from Junior School and all new pupils who may need to join EAL. Students joining the school during the course of the year will be tested separately either before or on arrival at school. In many cases it is necessary for students to take an EAL test beforean offer of a school place is made. This is simply so that the level of support required can be assessed and included in the parental contract and offer of a place.

On completion of the test, students are given a ‘BSN level’ based on their results. Please see the ta-ble overleaf for details of these levels. It is this level which will determine the degree of EAL support required and the number of lessons that child will need to attend.

How is EAL taught in theSenior School? Our teaching focuses on small groups and individu-als, initially away from the mainstream classes. A wide range of materials are used to facilitate lan-guage learning in meaningful and realistic contexts for the age of the students and in close collabora-tion with subject teachers. In addition to this with-drawal work, we provide support in subjectclasses to small groups and individuals who are having particular difficulty accessing the curricu-lum in certain subjects. In order to motivate students further, we organise external examinations at all levels and these are recognised by institutions and organisations all over the world, notably universities where pupils may subsequently study.

Will my child need to misssome subjects for EAL? As the curriculum at The BSN is delivered exclu-sively in English, the priority for your child must be to get their English to a standard where they can access the lessons of the other subjects. It is there-fore essential that we raise the level of their Eng-lish quickly and so they must miss some subjects initially in order to gain in the longer term.

The results of the EAL test determine the num-ber of hours that students will be withdrawn from mainstream curriculum subjects for EAL.

Withdrawal for EAL lessons varies according to level of need. An Individual Learning Support Programme (ILSP) for each student is created and this often involves a mix of both withdrawal and in-class support classes. For complete beginners in Years 7–9, it is neces-sary to make special arrangements involving an individual or small group tutor to work with these students until they are able to join a class on the normal basis. We are not able to take ‘Beginner Level’ EAL stu-dents directly into Years 10–13 as they would not be able to access the curriculum. In some situations, it can be possible for students to drop back a year – this would need to be discussed and agreed prior to admissions.

When will my child nolonger need EAL support? We constantly assess all EAL students and return them to classes as an on-going process. The level at which students can choose to leave EALis when they are upper-intermediate or can pass the Cambridge First for Schools examination. This is BSN Level 4 (see table overleaf). Many pupils actually choose to continue their EAL classes after this point in order to achieve a greater level of fluency and facilitate their study of other subjects still further.

Senior School EAL Learners Continued The following table has been developed to measure the English language ability of students when they join the school as an EAL learner. Placement in a certain level helps the EAL teaching team todetermine the level of support required by each child – their Individual Learning Support Programme is then created accordingly. This table is used for Senior School students only.

LEVELS Listening and speaking Reading Writing

BSN Level 6(CPE)

CAN take part in virtually all types of conversation includ-ing those with cultural allu-sions, etc. and can convey finer shades of meaning.

CAN access all sources of in-formation easily including the more complex parts of scien-tific or literary texts.

CAN make full and accurate notes, and write fluent, com-plex, letters, reports articles, etc. that have a clear logicalstructure.

BSN Level 5(CAE)

CAN participate effectively in classes, seminars or meetings with only limited problems and with a good level of fluency.

CAN read most text types quickly enough to cope with the demands of an academiccourse and can recognise dis-tinctions of style.

CAN write a letter, report, or essay of length that com-municates and that gives few difficulties for the reader.

BSN Level 4(FCE)

CAN interact effectively in classes on familiar topics with a reasonable level of fluency. Can converse acceptably on awide range of topics.

CAN read texts effectively for relevant information and grasp the main points of a wide range of texts.

CAN make simple but effective notes and can write a number of text types on familiar topics.

BSN Level 3(PET)

CAN understand instructions given by a teacher, express simple opinions and interact on familiar topics.

CAN understand familiar top-ics in textbooks, basic instruc-tions and high frequency language.

CAN write notes or simple texts, related to familiar top-ics, such as postcards or short letters.

BSN Level 2(KET)

CAN interact in short and sim-ple situations and communi-cate about very familiar topics.

CAN understand the factual meaning of a simple textbook or of familiar information.

CAN complete forms, write a short simple narrative such as a diary or write a postcard.

BSN Level 1 CAN communicate about basicinstructions, immediate needs or other factual information.

CAN read basic instructions, simplified texts, and simple sentences on familiar topics such as daily routines.

CAN copy times, dates and places and write simple notes from clear prompts.

BSNBeginner

CAN understand or use a few simple international words.

CAN recognise the English al-phabet and read a few simple international words.

CAN write the English alpha-bet and a few simple interna-tional words.

Further information Please do not hesitate to contact us for further infor-mation about The BSN in general or specifically about our English as an Additional Lan-guage programme. Contact the admissions office on +31 70 315 4077 or email admissions@britishschool.nl