We Care About Your Privacy
By clicking “Accept all”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy.
If you have EAL new arrivals in your school with limited English, you need a scheme of work in English that supports learners with language learning alongside the curriculum content you are delivering. This is to ensure young learners are understanding the basics of language needed for success.
Learning can be split into two parts:
The downloadable scheme of work for providing learners with the survival language they need for later success with academic language. They are split into sessions. Often, it takes a huge amount of time to prepare resources to support learners with the survival language alongside the academic language they need to access the demands of the curriculum.
A wide reading programme is promoted as a key vehicle for learners of English as an additional language (EAL) to improve their English language skills and become successful readers in English. Typically, such a programme involves learners being exposed to an extensive variety of reading materials both as independent readers and in structured sessions facilitated by a teacher or teaching assistant.
As exam season is coming up soon, this is the perfect opportunity for schools to rethink their current practices in supporting EAL children and families during this time. For multilingual families, exams can have the added stress of getting to know unfamiliar exam procedures, whilst facing their own language or cultural barriers. Below are some practical tips and strategies to help you offer high quality support to your EAL families during this demanding period.
Trust is the foundation of any meaningful school-family relationship. When it is strong, parents feel welcome, students feel supported, and schools can create the best conditions for learning. Research shows that trust between families and schools is directly linked to improvements in student engagement and achievement (Bryk and Schneider, 2002).
Here is a scenario close to my heart: