EAL strategies
In the run up to exams, there’s a trap you risk falling into when there’s a laser focus on academic outcomes.
It’s important you don’t forget about our students’ psychological safety and wider pastoral needs.
One group this is especially true for is EAL students. Picking up a new language is as much a social and emotional challenge as it is an academic one.
To explore how schools support their needs, our Policy and Practice Researcher, Sam Fifield, has found 47 high performing secondary schools and taken a deep dive into EAL policies to find out how they support their EAL students.
Whether you’re a leader looking to offer your students more support, or you’re a teacher in search of some good sources of EAL practice, this week’s highlight from the We Are In Beta Community will help.
We - schools - Are In Beta - always learning (when attend to both pastoral and academic needs for all groups of learners)
✍️ EAL policy and practice: examples from successful secondary schools.
EAL principles we shouldn’t forget.
Supporting EAL students is incredibly complex. When schools are busy it can be easy forget a set of truths about EAL. A set of truths, which the schools Sam looked at remind us of very articulately in their policies:
EAL is not SEN
All pupils have an entitlement to the National Curriculum
Language develops best in context
Teachers play a key role
Social-emotional dimensions are key in to supporting EAL
EAL learners are not a homogeneous group
To learn more about how schools apply theses principles…
Want us to research policies and practices for you?
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📝 How schools support EAL - what Sam explores:
the criteria he used to find schools with examples
what the key strategies schools use to support their EAL students
how to access 17+ EAL policies
5 stand out case studies
🔎 5 EAL policy observations.
The full article shares 50 observations from the 17 documents looked at.
Here are five that might get you thinking about what your school does:
🧭 Principles and philosophy - 7/47 outlined the foundational ideas that should guide all EAL practice.
⚙️ Provision - 38/47 go into granular detail about the specific strategies they use to support EAL students.
👩🏽🏫 Staffing - 15/47 detail the specific roles they have in their team to lead and/or support EAL provision.
🛡️Pastoral links - 1/47 listed their EAL provision under the pastoral pages on their website.
🧩 SEND links - 6/47 details the occasional overlap between EAL and SEND and how their teams work together.
To read about the other 45 observations and learn about the specifics how these schools support their EAL students….
🗒️ 5 stand out EAL case studies.
You don’t have the time to read all the resources, so we’ve done it for you.
We’ve found the most practical bits and organised them into 5 case studies about
Buddy systems
Outlining specific EAL provisions
Actionable and practical appendices for staff
Specific guidances for lesson planning for EAL students
6th form volunteers
Parent leaflets
If you want to read more about how they codify these strategies and:
you are a member of the Curriculum Thinkers Community, read them here.
you are a member of the Pastoral Champions Community, read them here.
Case studies are a members only resource.
Not a member of Pastoral Champions? Get a trial here.
Not a member of Curriculum Thinkers? Get a trial here.
💼 Jobs with We Are In Beta community members.
Senior Leadership
Deputy Headteacher - Huxlow Academy (North Northamptonshire).
Assistant Headteacher - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust) (Gloucester).
Middle Leadership
🎭 Head of Expressive Arts - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust) (Gloucester).
💻 Lead of Computer Science - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust) (Gloucester).
⚖️ Lead Teacher for PSHCE - John Taylor Free School (Staffordshire).
💼 Lead Teacher for Vocational - John Taylor Free School (Staffordshire).
👋 Head of Languages - The Wrenn School (Reading).
Teaching
🌎 Geography - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust) (Gloucester).
🎶 Music - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust) (Gloucester).
🇪🇸 Languages - The Wren School (Excalibur Academies Trust) (Reading).
⚖️ Humanities - The Wren School (Excalibur Academies Trust) (Reading).
📖 English - The Wren School (Excalibur Academies Trust) (Reading).
🎨 Art - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🧪 Chemistry - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
📖 English - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🌎 Geography - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🏰History - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🖥️ ICT - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
💰Business - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
📊 Maths - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
👋 MFL - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🕌RE - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
⚙️Resistant Materials - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
🌐 Sociology - States of Guernsey (Guernsey).
📊 Maths - John Taylor Free School (Staffordshire)
🕌RE - John Taylor Free School (Staffordshire)
💰🖥️ Business & Computing - John Taylor Free School (Staffordshire)
Several jobs from Greenshaw Learning Trust this week.
If you're wondering what it's like to work there, check out the content inside the GLT School Improvement Community.
10 modules and 50+ school improvement resources covering: T&L, reading, exams, fun and togetherness, workload, recruitment and more.
On a personal note.
I hate to admit it, but I’ve been guilty of falling into the trap I outlined at the top of this post.
When grades mean so much and the pressure’s on, you can sometimes project it onto your students.
I shudder at the thought, especially in the light one personal life event that reminds every day me of the importance of attending to the phycological, social and emotional needs of kids (not just their academic).
What is it? Having my own kids.
As a Head of Science, the grades students got was everything.
But as a dad, the comfort with which my daughter walks into nursery and the smile on her face as she comes out, mean so much more.
If you’re curious about how schools balance both, there are really practical strategies in here.
Wishing you all the best of luck in the run up to exams.
PS - If you’re looking for a source of educational research into how schools can support EAL learners, check out the work Dr Robert Sharples does at University of Bristol.
Thanks for reading.
@NiallAlcock and the We Are In Beta team.
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