Course: Supporting new arrival learners of EAL

Topic outline

General
How might you go about welcoming into your school community a learner who is new to English? What approaches would help them settle into their new school? And how can staff support them to access and engage with the curriculum that's being delivered in English, a language they are just starting to learn? In this section, you will find practical solutions to these and many other questions.
Download a copy of the Bell Foundation EAL Assessment Framework for primary and secondary age pupils and the associated support strategies document - look for detail within the A and B Bands - visit the download section here
- Announcements Forum
Aide-mémoire(s) of best practice principles
Best practice for new arrival EAL learners, including those at an early stage of acquiring English (Bands A and B)

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- Guidance for primary schools File
- Guidance for secondary schools File
Free training card (part of the 101 EAL conversations card set)
Four pupils from an asylum seeking background have recently arrived late into Key Stage 4. Very little is known about their background except that they are all at early stages of acquiring EAL. The plan is to create a small withdrawal intervention group for the remainder of the year (5 months), taught by a Support Assistant who has a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification. What are your thoughts about this provision?
Download this pdf for the answer. It can also be used in training sessions to promote discussion amongst staff.
This card is part of 101 EAL conversation cards set: More information can be found here
- The merits of withdrawal intervention for older late arriving pupils File
Supporting New Arrivals Videoscribe
- Videoscribe resource pack URL
  Complements the EMTAS New Arrivals Videoscribe. Use to explore what provision for newly-arrived students looks like in your school or setting.
- Videoscribe images URL
  With key phrases taken from the audio narration. Use as a matching activity and when discussing how the needs of New Arrivals are catered for
What does it feel like to be a new arrival? 'Our Story' courtesy of Rochdale LA

Our Story from Kilogramme on Vimeo.
Useful links (crossphase)
Mainstreaming provision
- Integrating students using EAL into mainstream lessons (Bell Foundation)
Assessment
- Assessing first language - read this blog and complete this elearning module
- Assessing English using an EAL-specific tool - see the Bell Foundation EAL assessment framework
Social integration
- Find out about the Young Interpreter Scheme
- Using persona dolls with younger children - read these blogs
Home-school links
- Language phonelines
- Bringing up your child bilingually - download the leaflet (available in several languages)
Planning
- Using first language as a tool for learning
Speaking and listening
- Opportunities to respond non-verbally through a voting tool like Plickers
- Ideas for language development (Racing to English from Gordon Ward)
- Capture talk using oral recording device from Talking Products
Reading
- Source dual language resources from Mantra Lingua
Writing

A Language guide to transfer errors (for writing)

Pupils who are not literate in their first language and who are at the beginning of learning English can demonstrate their learning through talk. See Book Creator which has an audio recording facility alongside other more traditional word processing tools. Book creator is now available in 10 languages. There is an example below about how this tool can be used to support pupils learning EAL.
Websites

EAL Nexus: Great ideas pages. 'Many of the teaching resources on this website refer to various tried and tested approaches and strategies which we recommend for EAL learners.In this section of the website we explain the rationale behind these methodologies and why we call them ‘Great Ideas’.The majority of these approaches can be used with everyone in the class, but they are particularly important for EAL learners because they provide a rich context, additional support, opportunities for collaborative learning and exploratory talk, and all the important features of good practice in meeting the educational needs of EAL learners'

Collaborative Learning Project.'Collaborative Learning is practitioner led, has evolved over the last thirty five years and is still evolving. We support a teacher network that shares resources that scaffold talk. Our activities can be used as they are, or tweaked a little to suit different classrooms or they can be an inspiration/a template for you to develop your own resources that we hope you will in turn share with us.'

Blogs

EMTAS Blogs tagged by 'New Arrivals'

Johnathan Bifield’s blog of great ideas
Secondary-specific support and guidance
Late Arrivals
- EMTAS guidance for secondary schools receiving international new arrivals for whom English is an Additional Language into Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11).
- EMTAS guidance on post-16 provision and pathways for late-arriving students.
Exam support
- EMTAS guidance on examination access arrangements for learners of EAL
Heritage Language GCSEs
- The EMTAS GCSE Heritage Language Support leaflet gives an overview of the support available from EMTAS for Heritage Language GCSEs.
Visit the EMTAS website for information about the packages of support available.
Resources
- Classroom Dialogue and Learning - MESHGuide URL
- Use of images across the curriculum File
- Ideas for using oral recording devices File
- Substitution Tables File
- Widgit library (including translation facility) URL
  Usual caveats apply to use of translation tools - for more information about the strengths and weaknesses of translation visit the EMTAS Blog.
- Little by Little advice sheets Zip (courtesy EAL Highland) URL
- Vocabulary development for learners of EAL URL
  Article in an online publication 'Headteacher Update' dated January 2022