English as an Additional Language

What is EAL?

EAL stands for English as an Additional Language. The Department of Education definition of a pupil with English as an Additional one ‘who has been exposed to a language other than English during early childhood and continues to be exposed to this language in the home or the community.

The EAL Provision

Our school has a qualified EAL Coordinator, Mrs M B Salters, who oversees the EAL provision at Ashton Community Science College. Mrs Salters works closely with both teaching and support staff in the school to provide the best possible support for our EAL students. There is a dedicated classroom in school which is well-resourced and equipped to support the learning of our EAL students. The room is located in a small building called The Hive.

The support we offer to our EAL students includes:

  • Induction programmes to introduce new students to the school environment (this includes a full language assessment). 
  • ‘Buddying’ new students with someone in their tutor group who can lend support inside and outside of lessons. 
  • One-to-one English tuition with a focus on the subject-specific language used in lessons. 
  • Small group lessons designed to improve speaking, grammar and listening skills in English. 
  • One-to-one mentoring sessions for pastoral support and guidance.
  • In-class support from a specialist Teaching Assistant. 

Newly arrived EAL students and EAL Intervention

New students with EAL receive a warm welcome from the school’s EAL Coordinator, who guides them through an initial English language assessment during the first meeting. This enables the school to swiftly provide an appropriate level of support whilst also getting to know the student. As part of their induction, new students are shown around the school site to help familiarise themselves with the school; this includes guidance in following their school timetable and where possible, meeting with key members of staff. Other EAL students will also be on hand to support new arrivals in class and during social times, with tutors assigning ‘buddies’ to help new students to settle into school life.

For the purposes of supporting our EAL students most effectively, we follow the 2016 DfE Proficiency Scale to identify the level of need for every student. 

Intervention lessons are provided to students by the EAL coordinator Mrs B Salters and Mr Khan, targeting students identified as New to English (Code A) and Early Acquisition (Code B). Each student will be given a timetable to indicate when these lessons will take place. The frequency of intervention lessons depends on the needs of the individual. Often students are withdrawn from their normal timetabled lessons to attend but this will not include the core subjects of English, Maths and Science.

Language GCSEs

We encourage our multilingual students to take additional language GCSE qualifications. To be entered for these exams, students also need to have a good level of English. Previous EAL students at Ashton Community Science College have been entered into GCSE Polish, GCSE Russian, GCSE Portuguese, GCSE Spanish, GCSE Chinese and GCSE Arabic exams. Students who are interested are welcome to contact Mrs Salters, Mr Corbley - our French language teacher or the school’s Exams Officer, to discuss further.

Contact

For any further queries regarding English as an Additional Language at Ashton Community Science College please contact:

Mrs B Salters

EAL Coordinator

bsalters@ashtoncsc.com

01772 513002 ext 270

Information for parents

Parents