Introduction to the EAL Department (Twickenham Academy)

EAL DepartmentAT TWICKENHAM ACADEMY

Who are EAL Learners?

Any child who hears / experiences / speaks a non-English language in their family and/or community is considered to be an English as an Additional Language (EAL) learner

Types of EAL learners: New Arrivals (those who arrived in the UK in the last 3 years)

First generation: born in another country and since resettled in the UK

Second or third generation: born in the UK in a migrant or dual-heritage family

Migrant workers: those who moved here for economic (jobs) purposes

Asylum seekers and refugees: those who have fled persecution, famine and other tragic events

Common experiences of EAL students:

I’m not like them and they’re not like me. I

stand out.

I’ve never been to school before.

It’s really exciting.

I’m shy. I’ll just nod my head and copy. That way I

won’t get laughed at or told off.

Can I eat this? Can I do that activity? What will my family say? But will I like

it?

I miss home. Why did I get

sent to this awful place? How can I get away from

it?

I just can’t keep up… it’s really

tiring, but I have to succeed for my

family to survive in this country.

We get to discuss things much

more...

Why do some people seem to avoid talking to me? Why do they speak to me like I’m

dumb?

At my other school I had much more

interesting work. All I do here is sit

quietly and copy.Where and when is my next lesson? Everyone else can

do the work, knows where to

go and what to do next.

Pashto; 4Lingala; 4

Farsi; 7

Albanian; 18

Urdu; 7

Polish; 15

Swedish; 5Portuguese; 5Panjabi; 5

Arabic; 8

Italian; 1

Vietnamese; 4

Somali; 4

Akan; 1

Bulgarian; 3

Russian; 2

Serbian; 2Nepali; 2

Lithuanian; 2Thai; 1

Yoruba; 2Chinese; 2

Bengali; 3Romanian; 2

Hindi; 2French; 2 Spanish; 2 Sinhala; 1 Turkish; 1 Croatian; 1 Swahili; 2

32 Languages

Pashto Lingala Farsi Albanian Urdu Polish Swedish PortuguesePanjabi Arabic Italian Vietnamese Somali Akan Bulgarian RussianSerbian Nepali Lithuanian Thai Yoruba Chinese Bengali RomanianHindi French Spanish Sinhala Turkish Croatian Swahili Gujarati

What do we do for EAL Learners at Twickenham Academy?

Provision for students: Targeted support for EAL students in small intervention groups (up to

EAL Level 3 in KS3 – English / Literacy; underperforming students in KS4 – English, Maths, Science)

1-to-1 EAL teaching to lower EAL levels students as required

In-class support for students across the entire curriculum in close collaboration with subject teachers

Paired Reading (Unitas TextNow) programme for selected Y7-Y8 EAL students


Monitoring students’ progress – ensuring improvement: EAL Register

EAL Levels grids

Support Logs

Teaching and Learning Logs

EAL Provision Map

Analysing pupil trackers and planning appropriate action

Individual Education Plans for lower level students (usually up to L2)

Re-assessing students’ levels on a half-termly basis


Advisory role: Promoting Language for All across the entire school:

Training sessions (CPD)

Advising teachers on successful strategies with EAL learners (both at early stages of English language development and advanced learners)

Producing newsletters / advice / strategies documents for the entire school

Door open for any teacher who wishes to receive personal advice on how to better teach their EAL learners

When a new EAL student arrives

Interview with a parent / parents

Initial assessments / collaboration with the Inclusion Team

Tour of the school and explaining any arising issues

Finding a buddy for the initial period

Monitoring the student’s progress (Success Criteria for New Arrivals)

Most useful documents for tutors and teachers

W:\_Legacy\1B - STAFF\EAL INFO

EAL Register

EAL Stages grids

EAL Parental Interview forms (for new- and mid-phase arrivals)

IEPs (for students at levels 2 and lower)

Success Criteria

Scaffolding Resources: W:\_Legacy\1B - STAFF\EAL INFO\Scaffolding Resouces

Cross-curricular Teaching Strategies for New Arrivals

EAL Strategies (1)

Provide class rules in picture form

Encourage the use of bilingual dictionaries in class or provide some (if possible)

Support learning with images (on PowerPoint presentations and worksheets)

Provide sentence starters and writing frames

Use group work and collaborative learning to provide good English role models

Pre-teach vocabulary

Ask open questions

Use concrete rather than abstract starters (e.g. matching words to pictures, grouping words under one category)

Model speaking and listening exchanges (with an adult or another student)

Get your EAL students to listen for key words throughout the lesson

Pre-highlight key words in your reading

Elicit prior knowledge: use KWL grids, brainstorming activities, a picture with a question, “How could this connect to…?”

Recast