English as an Additional Language
Lynch Hill School Primary Academy is a fully inclusive school regardless of a child’s language and cultural background. Diversity is what makes Lynch Hill such a vibrant place to work and attend. All of our staff and our Community Team help to ensure that all cultures, languages and backgrounds are valued in the school.
We recognise that one in three of the pupils at our school is a pupil for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL) and for those pupils that requiring more focused learning, targeted support is given. Each pupil is an individual and at the school we feel it is important to develop a personalised approach.
The support that our school delivers ensures that our EAL children make good or better progress. The key concepts of this support are that:
- the challenge is kept high through differentiated work;
- learning is scaffolded to enable children to close the gap between where they are and the age related expectation;
- curriculum based learning ensures that pupils acquire English as they learn the knowledge and skills of the curriculum
- continued use of the home language is encouraged as pupils benefit from drawing on their strong linguistic skills in the language they feel confident in.
Valuing a child’s home language can be such an advantage not only in increased self-esteem but also in quick progress as they learn English. EAL children alongside Ethnic Minority (EMA) children are also given the support needed so that they make good and, in some cases, outstanding progress towards their targets.
New arrivals (pupils who have recently arrived in Britain) benefit from a 2 week dedicated programme of one-to-one support initially. The objectives of this programme are:
- to make the pupil feel welcome
- assimilate the pupil to their new environment
- make new friends
- be involved in lessons.
After this time, targeted and personalised support continues to be offered in the classroom during lessons.
The various linguistic skills of our members of staff, especially those of our Community Team, help to communicate and translate for parents and pupils who may not be confident with the English Language.
Teaching and learning at Lynch Hill School is outstanding and staff continually strive to promote high standards of attainment. Progress is constantly reviewed and interventions are put in place where required. This is documented in our Individual Language Plan (ILP) which is shared between the pupil, teacher and parent. It is because of this focused and targeted approach to EAL learners that we expect these children to reach the same standards of progress as every other pupil.