St Gregory the Great Catholic School

EAL | English as an Additional Language

At St Gregory the Great School we warmly welcome students who speak English as an additional language; these are students whose mother tongue is not English, and who converse at home in more than one language. At St Gregory’s more than 40 different languages are spoken by our students.

Key Stage 3 Provision

Students arriving at St Gregory the Great School whose first language is not English are required to sit a placement test, this allows us to gain an understanding of their current level of English acquisition.  Students will follow an induction programme during their first few days in school whereby they are invited to participate in activities taking place in our inclusion hubs.  EAL students are also partnered with a “buddy” from within their tutor group or class who accompanies them around school and sits with them in lessons and is someone they can get to know straight away.

Those students who are “New to English” (Band A) or are classed as “Early Acquisition” (Band B) in their language development are provided with three literacy lessons per week.  These are bespoke intervention lessons which focus on language acquisition, covering basic skills such as reading, writing and listening, based on their current language level. Students are then progressed through a programme that works through 4 levels of competence in the English language at a pace that is suitable for them.

Once students reach “Developing Competence” (Band C) they will graduate from our EAL intervention programme and be fully immersed back into mainstream lessons, where they will continue to develop their language skills in the classroom.

Students in Bands A or B will also receive:

• A dictionary in their home language/English.
• A welcome pack.
• A key phrase word fan.
• Knowledge organisers translated into their home language.

Key Stage 4 Provision

As per the key stage 3 provision students are required to sit a placement test to allow us to understand what level of proficiency they are working at. Students will also be provided with an induction programme in the inclusion hubs.

At key stage 4, those students who are “New to English” (Band A) or are classed as “Early Acquisition” (Band B) in their language development are provided with two literacy lessons per week. These are bespoke intervention lessons which focus on language acquisition, covering basic skills, such as reading, writing and listening, based on their current language level. Students are then progressed through a programme that works through 4 levels of competence in the English language at a pace that is suitable for them.

Students in Bands A or B will also receive:

• A dictionary in their home language/English.
• A welcome pack.
• A key phrase word fan.
• Knowledge organisers translated into their home language.

Exam Preparation and Special Arrangements

Curriculum areas are supported with writing and differentiating papers. Also, in public exams, students may be allowed extra time, and have access to a bilingual dictionary.

Students are given the opportunity and are encouraged to sit an MFL GCSE examination in their home language where possible.

Monitoring and Evaluation of EAL Student Progress

In order to ensure that progress is being made, those EAL students in intervention are regularly assessed and targets are set to allow students to make progress within their mainstream lessons as well as in the intervention programmes. Students’ progress is monitored by the school SENCo, Miss L Newell and Assistant Headteacher, Mrs P Wileman.

Parents: 7 Keys to Success

1. Encourage your child to read for at least 30 minutes per day. We have a fantastic range of novels or non-fiction books in our school library at St Gregory the Great School. If they visit the Library Miss Brookes will be on hand to help your son or daughter choose an appropriate book to read.
2. Provide access to dual language age-appropriate films, these could be found on YouTube if you do not own these. Allow your son / daughter to watch these with the sound in the home language and the subtitles on in English and vice versa.
3. Sit with your son /daughter and encourage them to listen to a radio station that has lots of talking in English (BBC Radio 2 for example). This helps immerse your child in the English language.
4. Encourage your son / daughter to complete their homework, they can access support in school at The Bridge during break times, or in the library after school.
5. Encourage your son / daughter to revise from their knowledge organisers each term, as these cover the topics being taught in class and also details the key vocabulary being taught in the class.
6. Encourage your son / daughter to develop their language acquisition in English through allowing them to use both languages at home and in school.
7.  Reward and praise their successes!