Welcoming New Arrivals and Raising the Attainment of EAL/BME Pupils

1. Welcoming New Arrivals and Raising the Attainment of EAL/BME Pupils

2. Objectives • To develop understanding of the diverse needs of ethnic minority pupils • To develop understanding and skills in supporting children learning English as an additional language (EAL) and Minority Ethnic Background (MEB) pupils

3. New arrivals may: • Have had full schooling in another country, interrupted schooling or no previous schooling • Be literate in one or more languages • Be used to a different education system with different pedagogy • Come from a range of cultural, religious, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds • Be experiencing cultural disorientation, loss, grief or isolation

4. What you need to know to support EAL pupils • Country of origin • First language • Other language(s) spoken in family • Immigration status • Number of years in the UK • Religion • Health, diet etc • Education history • Ethnicity ??

5. Barriers To Learning For EAL Students school/ educational setting family Child or Young Person wider world community

6. Barriers to learning for EAL/MEB students

7. Overcoming barriers for new arrivals • Translation of key materials and forms • Use of interpreters and bilingual staff • Establish pastoral support systems within school • Ensure the child’s linguistic and cultural background is reflected within the school environment

8. Creating a welcoming environment • Multilingual signs around the school • Displays with positive images of people, places or things from the child’s home country reflecting their culture • Classroom displays written in the scripts of the languages spoken by children in the class • Dual language books, tapes, CDs in the child’s language • Stories, poems and drama from the child’s culture used in literacy lessons • Children using their home language for learning within the classroom • Whole class and staff using multilingual greetings • language of the month

9. Key points • New arrivals are not a homogenous group – children come from a range of social experiences and backgrounds and will therefore have diverse needs • One of the first steps in welcoming new arrivals is to help them feel safe and secure in their new environment • Schools should always try to provide first language support through other children or adults where possible

10. Key points • An important part of children feeling safe and secure is seeing their language and culture reflected in their surroundings • All children and staff play a key role in welcoming new arrivals • The more (true) information you have about a student, the better their school experience will be and the easier it is to teach and learn

11. EAL and/or SEN? • How can you tell? • Next steps….

12. Indicators • How long the child has been in the country • Which language they use at home and how well they are progressing in this language • Progress in literacy especially but in all areas of the curriculum • How they present (social, emotional, behavioural factors) • Which areas they have difficulties in • How they are at home (parental concerns?)

13. Next Steps • Speak to parents (may need translation) • Discussion with SENCo • Assessment/observation (may involve translation) • Intervention • External advice and support • Monitoring * Beware social stigmas that exist regarding SEN in some cultures/countries

15. Teaching & Learning: Raising the Attainment of EAL/MEB Pupils February 2013 Angela de Britos

16. Part 1 - Teaching & Learning Aims: • To understand the principles of effective teaching and learning practice for EAL/MEB pupils • To explore a range of learning and teaching approaches that support curriculum access and English language development • To understand how effective assessment will support progression and inform teaching

17. 1. Which two describe ‘diversity’ most accurately? a) treating people as individuals, fairly and with respect & dignity b) meeting targets and ticking boxes c) being inclusive and offering everyone the same opportunities d) offering vegetarian options in the school canteen • 2. Who was Britain’s first Black mayor? a) Paul Bogle (1865) b) John Archer (1913) c) Lord Pitt (1975) d) James Taylor (1997) • 3. How many languages are spoken in Plymouth schools? a) 3 b) 15 c) 40 d) 50+

18. Some terminology…… • EAL – English as an Additional Language • BME – Black & Minority Ethnic • BAME – Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic • MEB – Minority Ethnic Background • ASR – Asylum Seeker/Refugee http://www.ecu.ac.uk/your-questions/should-i-use-bme-bame-or-neither

19. The national context • MEB pupils make up 24.5% of all primary school pupils and 20.6% of all secondary school pupils • EAL pupils make up 15.2% of all primary pupils and 11.1% of all secondary pupils • Metropolitan areas main concentration of MEB/EAL pupils

20. Profile in Plymouth schools • 7% of school population • Approximately 1350 EAL • Approximately 50 languages including English • Majority languages: Polish, Arabic, Portuguese

21. ‘Every teacher an EAL teacher’ • Aim – to develop sustainable capacity in order to meet the needs of MEB and EAL pupils, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to achieve

22. Initial Assessment • Assessment should be carried out by the child’s teacher • Children should be assessed within the first few days in school • Allow time for sensitive, individual initial assessment in reading, writing, speaking, listening and mathematics • Assess new arrivals regularly in the early stages

23. Assessing new arrivals Avoid undue stress Use a range of methods Informal assessment Observation Previous school records Discussion with children & parents/carers

24. Teaching & Learning • In order to plan and provide for students who are learning EAL (and assess their progress), we firstly need to unpick language learning.....

25. Can You Order the Stages of Language Acquisition?

26. Listening and absorbing • Responding to instructions • Imitating and copying modelled language • Trying one or two word phrases • Speech grammatically incomplete • Extending sentences with support • Coping with a range of listeners • Showing grammatical complexity • Extending range of ideas and meaning • Engaging in social and academic dialogue • Speaking clearly and using growing vocabulary • Competent and independent • Using language appropriately across the curriculum and in a variety of social contexts

27. Strategies to support children new to English (1) • Use visuals, actions and real objects to support meaning • Use active tasks • Use practical tasks with opportunities from speaking and listening • Vary the activities within a lesson • Identify key vocabulary and teach it explicitly • Anticipate language demands that might create difficulties • Provide models of the language the child will be expected to use

28. Strategies to support children new to English (2) • Plan speaking and listening activities • Use a bilingual dictionary, where appropriate • Use home language where possible • Use assessment for learning processes • Ensure success by creating a manageable task

29. Access to the curriculum: making contexts supportive for children learning EAL Building on previous experience Scaffolding language and learning Activating prior knowledge Using bilingual strategies Modelling Planned opportunities for speaking and listening Use of ICT Frames and prompts Creating shared experiences Paired talk Collaborative activities Graphic organisers and other visuals Ensuring contexts are culturally familiar Exploratory talk Extended talk between adults and children The print environment Communicative activities such as barrier games and experiential learning

30. Promoting access to the curriculumA Year 3 teacher discusses strategies she uses to support EAL pupils.

31. How long does it take? • 1 – 2 years for BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills) • 5-7 years for CALPS (cognitive academic language proficiency) Ref: Jim Cummins (1984) Clevedon: Multilingual Matters

32. Different forms of bilingualism 1.Sequential Bilingualism - is when a child begins the process of second language (L2) acquisition after the first language (L1) is established 2.Simultaneous Bilingualism - is when a child grows up learning two languages (L1 & L2) - or more! - at the same time

33. Specific issues for EAL learners • Getting to grips with English as well as with the Curriculum • Vocabulary development • Developing cognitive and academic language • Distinguishing meanings, e.g. everyday meanings from different curriculum areas – ‘table’ ‘point’ • Developing knowledge of culturally-based language idioms, e.g. a bit under the weather; or metaphors e.g. rainingcats and dogs

34. When learning new words, EAL pupils need to… • See them • Hear them • Use them in sentences • Rehearse them • Read them • Write them • Revise them • Use them in different contexts

35. Support strategies - word level • Use labeled diagrams to highlight key vocabulary • Use picture dictionaries • Produce bilingual word lists • Provide lists of key words to look up in a bilingual dictionary • Highlight key words in the text for pupil to look up in bilingual dictionary • Send key word lists home prior to lessons for parents to translate and explain • Pre-teach key words prior to lessons using games e.g. use flashcards to play pairs game, make picture bingo cards

36. Support strategies - sentence level • Highlight key part of sentence structure • Provide model sentences for pupils to refer to • Provide gap fill sentences for pupils to complete with key vocabulary • Practice sentences orally before writing • Scaffold writing using writing frames

37. Support strategies - text level • Highlight key areas of text or cut the text to leave key information • Use writing frames to support the organisation of text • Provide a model piece of writing to illustrate what is required and model writing regularly when working with pupils • Allow pupil to write in their first language and translate what they have written either orally or in writing • Allow pupil to complete the task orally while somebody else writes down their ideas • Provide jumbled sentences that need to be sorted to produce a complete text

38. Language demands • The main purpose for which the child needs to use language in the lesson • What the child has to do – comparing, justifying, explaining, etc. • What the child needs to say – phrases, grammatical structures, etc. • Vocabulary

39. Teaching sequence to support EAL learners • Identify language needed • Plan how to model language • Plan opportunities for language use by children new to English • Assess children’s use of targeted language • Identify next steps

40. A Language in Common (QCA 2000) • Extended scale for children new to English • Relates to National Curriculum levels already being used • Enables schools to systematically track progress • Must be used when making applications for special considerations for end of KS2 SATs. • Assessment based upon a broad range of evidence • Use step and level descriptors to make ‘best fit’ assessment judgements • Use ALIC exemplification to confirm assessment levels • ALinC

41. Key points • Quality-first teaching in an inclusive curriculum provides the best support for EAL/MEB pupils • Children learn English best in the mainstream classroom • EAL learners should be given opportunities to use their first language for learning • The language learning context can be made more supportive for children new to English through the use of a range of scaffolding strategies • Planning needs to identify language demands, support and opportunities • Children who are new to English need to be provided with achievable tasks that provide appropriate age-related cognitive demands • Planning and teaching of EAL learners should be based on evidence gathered through a variety of assessment approaches • Supporting Pupils Booklet

42. Useful Reading • Haslam, L., Wilkin, Y. and Kellet, E. (2005) English as an additional language : meeting the challenge in the classroom • Graf, M. (2011) Including and supporting learners of English as an additional language • Scott, C. (2009) Teaching children English as an additional language : a programme for 7-11 year olds • Crosse, K. (2007) Introducing English as an additional language to young children : a practical handbook • Washbourne, A. (2011) The EAL Pocketbook • Pim, C. (2012) 100 Ideas for Supporting Learners with EAL

43. Useful Reading • New Arrivals Excellence Programme Ref: 00426-2007 • Aiming High – Understanding the educational needs of minority ethnic pupils in mainly white schools. Ref: DfES/0416/2004 • Aiming High – raising the achievement of African-Caribbean pupils Ref:DfES/0694/2003 • Supporting pupils learning English as an additional language. Ref:DfES0239/2002 • A Language in Common – QCA Ref: QCA/00/584

44. Teaching strategies and learning opportunities

45. Promoting access to the curriculumA Year 3 teacher discusses strategies she uses to support EAL pupils.