ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE St Mary’s RC High School

EAL LEARNERS Children take up to 2 years to develop basic speaking and listening skills, but 5-7 years to acquire the full range of literacy skills needed to catch up with their English speaking peers.

from: St Mary’s EAL Policy Pupils should be able to: use English confidently and competently use English as a means of learning across the curriculum where possible and appropriate, to follow a G.C.S.E examination in the home/first language.

EAL PUPIL INTERVIEWS AT ST MARY’S WHAT ARE THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECTS OF LEARNING ENGLISH? Writing (writing in the correct tense) Understanding hard words – “subject words” Pronunciation Reading out loud Tests It is hard to understand the teacher’s instruction Homework Most difficult subject - maths

EAL PUPIL INTERVIEWS AT ST MARY’S WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST HELPFUL? Clear explanations of homework Key Words – displayed / explained Help with pronunciation Working with others (who are helpful!) Teachers who explain everything – repetition of instructions Samples / Modelling of work

WHAT CAN TEACHERS DO TO HELP? Give key word lists for pupils to take home, translate and learn for the next lesson Tell pupils what the next topic will be so they can research and find out information about the topic in their first language before the lesson Give opportunities in lessons for practice in speaking and listening skills Give focused grammar / literacy correction in written work Check pupils understand the homework before they leave the classroom – give written details to pupil

EAL-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS? EAL CO-ORDINATOR? STAFF INSET – AN ASPECT OF EVERY SEPTEMBER INSET? ASSESSMENT & TRACKING – EAL AS A KEY GROUP? EAL PUPIL INTERVIEWS & CASE STUDIES EAL FRIENDLY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS CELEBRATE MULTI-CULTURALISM

EAL-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS? EAL PARENTS’ INFORMATION EVENINGS? TRANSLATORS AT PARENTS’ EVENINGS etc? ENSURE THAT ACTIVITIES IN ALL CURRICULAR AREAS REFLECT THE CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF PUPILS ENSURE THAT ALL ESSENTIAL INFORMATION IS TRANSLATED FOR EAL PARENTS.  TRANSLATED LETTERS FOR SCHOOLS? READING PROGRAMMES / LITERACY FOCUS

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS? HEREFORDSHIRE EAL TRIAD PROJECT STUDENT INTERVIEWS BOOK TRAWLS LEARNING WALKS SHARING OF GOOD PRACTICE / WHOLE SCHOOL EAL INITIATIVES DATA ANALYSIS CREATION OF A NEW ARRIVALS PACK NETWORK MEETINGS SET UP

INFORMATION EVENING for PARENTS AND CARERS of EAL STUDENTS WEDNESDAY 3rd DECEMBER 2014 Welcome - Powitanie - Bem-vindo – Laukiamas Selamat Datang - Maligayang Pagdating - Bine ai Venit ST MARY’S RC HIGH SCHOOL

FROM: PUPIL CASE STUDY Pupil A’s strengths include: A caring and supportive family. Keen to improve and succeed. Well motivated and conscientious. Appropriate social skills, good manners. Adequate skills in maths. Above average sewing skills and highly creative. Has a beautiful singing voice. During her first years, my observations of her are that she is very shy, she hates speaking in front of the class. She is keen to improve and asked for extra English lessons after school hours. My interventions targeted grammar with the “Your Space” programme. I also put her on the “Toe by Toe” literacy programme, targeting phonics and pronunciation to build up her confidence to speak in front of the class. Both of these interventions have helped to fill some of the gaps and have contributed to her acquisition of the English language..........

GUIDE FOR LITERACY LEADERS Write your name in their planner. At every meeting book your next meeting – time and place which will be the Library or Room 17 during morning or/and afternoon registration. Help your pupil to select an appropriate book from their zone. Listen to them read to assess that the book is at their level. If it isn’t then get them to change it. Negotiate how many pages they must read on their own at home before your next meeting. Check that this reading has been completed by asking them questions, e.g., what happened? Listen to them read aloud........  

WEEKLY SAYING “A FLASH IN THE PAN”   “A FLASH IN THE PAN” It means someone who makes a good impression at the start but fails to deliver a result The teacher is hoping that this is a long-term commitment to his work, and not just a flash in the pan.

WORDS USED IN EXAM QUESTIONS Comment To say what you think – give your opinion A statement of fact or opinion, especially a remark that expresses a personal reaction or attitude  

WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM STRATEGIES? PLEASE REFER TO GOODY BAGS!!! Helpful learning environment – key words Buddy up – effective combinations Use of visual stimuli – pictures! Rehearsal / prep time – pre-teach key words  

WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM STRATEGIES? Modelling – sample writing / answer Listening frames Reading to EAL pupils Sentence starters