EAL

Welcome to the new EAL page to all our families who speak English as an additional language. 

English as an additional language (EAL) refers to learners whose first language is not English. (Ofsted).

We greatly value the diversity of the Pippins School Community. Our EAL learners bring with them a wealth of culture and experiences from different countries that they can share with others.  They can help their peers understand different cultures, people, and languages from different countries. 

Valuing the Languages and Cultures

Pippins is a UNICEF Rights Respecting School. The following articles underpin our EAL Policy for pupils with English as an Additional Language:

Article 3 (best interests of the child) The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children.
 

Article 12 (respect for the views of the child) Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life.

Article 13 (freedom of expression) Every child must be free to express their thoughts and opinions and to access all kinds of information, as long as it is within the law.
 

Article 29 (goals of education) Education must develop every child’s personality, talents, and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.
 

Article 30 (children from minority or indigenous groups) Every child has the right to learn and use the language, customs, and religion of their family, whether or not they are shared by the majority of the people in the country where they live.

In accordance with these Articles, Pippins Primary School values every child’s language and culture; and it promotes communication in home languages to support a deeper understanding of the learning.

At pippins school we have a friendly EAL teaching practice. 

Below are just some of the resources and provision we provide:

• Race to English programme, which contains activities specifically designed for EAL learners. It encourages focused language work and promotes group interaction.
• Talk for Writing is used in English lessons to encourage talk before writing.
• Education City – An interactive website which, through activities and games, helps children improve their speaking and comprehension skills.
• Espresso – Another interactive website, which also contains dual language books.
• We use drama and role play to encourage use of language and collaborative learning.
• We use visuals in the form of pictures, photographs to help learners access their activities and understand new information clearly.
• Substitution tables are used to support oral and written simple and complex sentence structure.
• Graphic organisers such as tables, grids charts and graphs to help learners organise their thinking.
• In our Early Years provision, a great emphasis is placed on communication and language.  This is brought to the fore in our enabling environment.  We are an I Talk school.
• We pre-teach vocabulary so learners are confident with new vocabulary.
• We promote diversity through our core texts and the wider curriculum.

What Can you do?

Being able to speak more than one language is a great opportunity for a child. Being literate in a home language has been shown to support a child’s development of English language rather than hinder it. Keep speaking and reading with your child in your home language as well as encouraging them in their English language learning.  Celebrate the diversity and richness of languages!

Language of the Term

Each term we find out about one of the many languages that are spoken by parents and children at Pippins School. In class we will be finding out where that language is spoken, who in our school speaks it and we will learn some words and phrases from that language. We encourage children who speak that language to speak to their class about their language and culture.

Below is a list of the languages for the school year 2022-23

Internationalism at Pippins

Our aim is to have an annual International Evening at Pippins School to celebrate our diverse community. Cultural performances from our pupils, songs from other language, musical performances, and food from around the word will be just some of the things to look forward to!

Hosting half termly EAL coffee mornings.

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