LORNE STREET PRIMARY
SCHOOL
ENGLISH AS ADDITIONAL
LANGUAGE (EAL) POLICY
Lorne Street Primary
EAL Policy
Rationale
Lorne Street Primary promotes social inclusion and equal opportunities for all pupils within a nondenominational ethos. In our school the teaching and learning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of all
our children are important. We aim to ensure that all bilingual pupils have the right to access the whole
curriculum at the same time as acquiring English language.
Research has shown that being bilingual is a positive asset and therefore should be valued as a special
achievement. Bilingual pupils have been found to have flexibility in their thinking, greater awareness of
language as an abstract system and sensitivity to the social aspects of language.
It is important to be aware that a pupil’s first language is a valuable support for learning and should be
encouraged. The development of linguistic concepts is central to a pupil’s intellectual development, and if
concepts have developed in the first language, they can be transferred to an additional language.
It should be noted that social language can become quite fluent within a relatively short time, whereas
academic language takes much longer to develop (five to seven years).
Aims and Objectives
The Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes secure entitlement for all children to a broad,
general education learning across curricular areas. The experiences create opportunities for children to
develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes that are necessary for their self-fulfilment and
development as responsible citizens. We promote the principles of fairness and justice for all through the
education that we provide in our school.
The aim of this policy is to help ensure that we meet the needs of those children who are learning English as an
Additional Language. This is in line with the requirements of the Race Relations Act 1976.
Learning and Teaching
As learning language takes place across the curriculum, the main emphasis for learning must be with the class
teacher who provides the day to day learning environment for the pupil.
A supportive learning environment should help the bilingual learner to gain access to the curriculum. Teachers
can develop the children’s spoken and written English by:
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being aware of the language and learning demands which lessons can make on pupils
ensuring that vocabulary work covers the technical as well as the everyday meaning of key words,
metaphors and idioms
explaining how speaking and writing in English are structured for different purposes across a range of
subjects
providing a range of reading materials that highlight the different ways in which English is used
ensuring that there are effective opportunities for talking, and that talking is used to support writing
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encouraging children to transfer their knowledge, skills and understanding of one language to another
building on children’s experiences of language at home and in the wider community so that their
developing uses of English and other languages support one another
using accessible texts and materials that suit children’s ages and levels of learning
providing support through a range of sources including ICT
Curriculum Access
All children in our school follow the curricular learning experiences within the Curriculum for Excellence
subject frameworks. Children with English as an Additional Language participate in all curricular areas and are
supported in order to attain as far as possible in line with their peers.
While language learning should take place within the classroom, it may be necessary, on occasions, for the EAL
Teacher to teach bilingual children in small groups, particularly during the “Silent” or
“ New to English”
stage of English language acquisition. This approach will always be determined by the need and spread of
bilingual pupils across all stages and will be assessed regularly. Extracting pupils should initially be to support,
by modelling, social language so that the pupils can begin to understand how to communicate basic, simple
needs.
There may be times when focused groups amongst older pupils may also work separately from their class to
support the development of higher order literacy skills or to address specific areas of grammar, where pupils
knowledge of their first language may lead to confusion when applying the grammatical rules of their
additional language.
Planning Learning and the role of the EAL Teacher
The EAL teacher will work in close partnership with class teachers. The success of this partnership depends on
focused joint planning of learning to ensure that children’s needs are being met and attainment is being
reached.
The EAL teacher supports language development by working directly with pupils deemed to require
intervention, and should also provide advice on teaching approaches and resources to support the class
teacher in progressing positive learning experiences for bilingual pupils. EAL intervention is generally delivered
within the class, in particular when a small group is being supported.
There may be occasions, as pupils progress through the Primary school when a small group of pupils may be
extracted across the stages to give a targeted input, for example sentence structure or higher order
reading/writing skills. This would be carried out in consultation with class teachers to give additional support
for older pupils at the “Developing Competence” stage of English language acquisition.
Language Acquisition
A pupil’s progress through the stages of language acquisition is tracked from the point of entry to Lorne Street
Primary until transition to Bellahouston Academy. This allows the school to monitor the periods of progression
through the stages of language acquisition of individual pupils. It supports the sharing of information within
and between the schools and enables future support to be planned.
Throughout their primary career, we plan opportunities for pupils to develop their English, and we provide
support to help pupils take part in a variety of activities which help them to access the whole curriculum.
In the early stages of language development, we help pupils to learn English as an Additional Language by:
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building on pupils experiences of language at home and in the wider community, so that their
developing uses of English and of other languages support one another.
providing a range of opportunities for pupils to engage in talking and listening activities in English with
peers and adults.
providing a variety of writing in the pupil’s home language as well as in English.
Assessment of Acquisition of Language
Initial Assessment
Pupils will be assessed in English within their first term of enrolling in the school, in accordance with the
criteria set out in the stages of language acquisition. Records of attainment will be maintained throughout
their primary education.
Bilingual pupils who transfer into other stages of the school will be assessed in consultation with the class
teacher and the EAL teacher after a brief settling in period.
The statutory arrangements of the Curriculum for Excellence outcomes allow for special arrangements to be
made for pupils who are learning English as an Additional Language.
Ongoing Assessment
Pupils progression in developing English will be assessed twice yearly in Term 2 and Term 4 by the EAL teacher
in conjunction with the class teacher. Criteria used to support assessment will include observations, work
completed, level of engagement, and the definitions of language development stages. This allows as full a
picture as possible to be developed of pupils progress.
Folders outlining key information on pupils’ progress are maintained by the EAL teacher, supported by input
from the class teacher and are located within the classrooms for easy access to information by the class
teacher.
The EAL teacher also maintains information on pupil’s first language and the families need for access to
interpreters to support school meetings. Information is held within the folders within each classroom and is
accessible to class teachers.