Primary schools are busy environments all year, but especially in the first weeks of September and October. New learners and teachers arrive, teachers meet their classes. A new cohort starts their school journey in reception, and individual new arrivals start in other year groups.
This is the time when a school’s inclusive ethos needs to be at its most assertive, and the message that learners using English as an additional language (EAL) are welcomed and seen as an asset needs to resonate to all learners, parents, and carers. This will help lay the foundations of a positive and mutually beneficial relationship.
From a learner’s perspective, what happens during the first half term at a new school shapes their sense of belonging and inclusion, which is, of course, the bedrock for achievement.
I wrote last term about how we can prepare our EAL learners for their year 7 transition. In this article, I would like to consider new entrants to the primary school who use EAL, as well as those beginning in year 6 who will soon be preparing to transition to secondary school.
I will focus on four areas of inclusion adapted from the diamond model of inclusion designed by Evans et al (2020):
- Linguistic inclusion
- Academic inclusion
- Social inclusion.
- Teachers’ inclusive attitudes.
It is important to bear in mind that all children experience multiple transitions in their lives, of which starting a new school is one. Crucially, learners using EAL experience an extra, linguistic transition – the shift from learning through a familiar language to learning through English.
Learners who are seeking asylum in the UK have experienced the unwanted transition of being forced to flee their homelands, may have already experienced education in other countries and/or refugee camps, and might feel or sense their parents’ uncertainty as to whether this current transition will become permanent.
1, Linguistic inclusion
Learners need to feel from the outset that this is a school where they can be themselves, grow, and thrive. Seeing and hearing their home languages as part of the fabric of school life sends a welcoming signal.
This might be through posters and displays as well as through both social and academic discourse in class and in the playground. New plurilingual learners, especially in reception, will benefit hugely from in-class bilingual support, from teachers or teaching assistants, and can thus be encouraged to feel that they do not have to re-invent themselves in order to participate in school life.
For reception children, home language support, where this is feasible, will build and reinforce new routines and strengthen the bridge between home and school.
Where there is no adult available to speak the child’s language, it is important to ensure that children feel accepted and able to use their home languages alongside learning English. New arrivals to late key stage 1 and 2 who already read and write in their home languages benefit from opportunities to continue doing so.
Parents and prospective parents also need to be able to visualise their child thriving in a new school. For them, translated promotional and curriculum material, parent ambassadors from the same linguistic communities, and the opportunity to be involved at forum or governor level are all things to consider.
Guided tours of the school delivered through a first language, from multilingual members of staff or older learners trained as language ambassadors, can make a huge difference. Parents of new children in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and key stage 1 might have different ideas about how children learn at this age, and it is useful to have this explained through a shared language wherever possible.
2, Academic inclusion
If your primary school uses the Bell Foundation EAL Assessment Framework for Schools or similar make sure that data is transferred so that assessment and monitoring can be on-going as the learners continue to develop their proficiency in English through the medium of curriculum learning.
For new arrivals from abroad, a robust, curriculum-based proficiency in English assessment is the best place to start. If there are interventions running for developing reading or vocabulary, consider reviewing them through an EAL lens before enrolling learners who use EAL – are they suitable or were they in fact designed for those whose first language is English?
Baseline assessments for reception children, for example, will give a more accurate picture if administered in the child’s home language, as the child’s proficiency in English is likely to be at beginner level.
The Bell Foundation Great Ideas pages are a good place to find inclusive strategies to use in class. Relevant CPD might be appropriate for teachers who are new to teaching learners using EAL. If English language interventions take place for learners at the earliest stages of English language acquisition, it is important that these have a curriculum focus and aim to re-integrate learners fully into the mainstream as soon as possible.
Initiatives such as homework clubs, tutoring, and flipped learning can be provided to tailor a bespoke offer for each learner.
For new arrivals using EAL in reception or key stage 1, phonic knowledge can be built up through listening activities. For existing EAL learners transitioning from key stage 1 to 2, it is necessary to consider the challenges of the upcoming curriculum and any assessments for each learner.
Key stage 2 international new arrivals need bespoke pathways, based on a robust, curriculum-embedded assessment of their proficiency in English levels, and previous schooling. New key stage 2 arrivals and their parents may need help to navigate and understand the options and process of application for secondary school.
Meanwhile, for those in year 6, Deignan et al (2023) point out the linguistic challenges of the key stage 2 to 3 transition in terms of academic language, particularly polysemic words such as “bar” or “solution”, which have different meanings in different subject areas, and complex grammatical structures, such as the passive voice.
Creating opportunities for year 6 staff to talk to year 7 colleagues will enable teachers to identify words, phrases, and structures which may be problematic, and year 6 teachers, including as part of SATs preparation, can seek to prepare the ground for a smoother transition to secondary school.
3, Social inclusion
Learners who use EAL and their families need to feel included in the social aspects of school life.
Peer support groups such as Young Interpreters (see further information) or language ambassadors can be invaluable in interpreting the unofficial curriculum – the pupils’ perspective from which teachers are often excluded. They should be particularly high profile and active at this time of year, welcoming new pupils in a variety of languages, showing prospective families around the school, and epitomising the inclusive ethos.
Finding your place in a new school is an intimidating prospect, even more so if it entails a change of language and culture. Hobbies and sports can help – a keen footballer is always welcome at practice, an artist at art club. These can be excellent ways to develop mixed language friendship groups which are not strained or forced but based on genuine shared interests.
New pupils using EAL need to know that these opportunities are open to them now, not reserved for some future point in time when they have “learned English”. Producing recruitment posters in a range of languages for clubs (perhaps involving learners in their creation), using language ambassadors to promote the clubs and societies on offer, and talking to parents and previous schools, where possible, to ascertain a learner’s interests can all be helpful. Consider how EAL-friendly the clubs and societies at your school are.
In class, building oracy and enhancing classroom talk will help both socially and academically. The Bell Foundation has some useful guidance (see resources).
Finally, never assume new arrivals and families understand the British school/exam systems. Education is organised differently in many other countries and continents. There is translated guidance to help support parental involvement available in a range of languages from the Bell Foundation (see resources).
4, Teachers’ inclusive attitudes
This section of the model created by Evans et al (2020) is arguably the most important, as it underpins the others and is inseparable from the school ethos. Teachers who demonstrate inclusive attitudes do the following:
Avoid deficit model thinking: Especially in relation to those at the earlier stages of acquiring English. High expectations with appropriate language support will result in a positive mindset, can-do attitude, and achievement for the learner.
Embrace multilingualism: This involves demonstrating respect and curiosity about the languages of others and encouraging this among learners. For example, by learning phrases in languages spoken in the class, having a language of the week/month, and by promoting translanguaging (see resources).
See teaching the language around a curriculum topic as an integral part of teaching it: This is crucial if learners using EAL are to have the best chance of achievement.
See the bigger picture: Reach out to teachers and educators from other sectors as well as external agencies who may be involved with families, in order to provide holistic support. The leader’s role here is to nurture and develop these attitudes through example, clear expectations, and supportive CPD.
Sarah Moodie is a trainer at The Bell Foundation, a charity working to overcome exclusion through language education. For details, visit www.bell-foundation.org.uk. Read all The Bell Foundation’s articles for Headteacher Update via www.headteacher-update.com/authors/the-bell-foundation
Further information & resources
- Deignan, Candarli & Oxley: The Linguistic Challenge of Transition to Secondary School, Routledge, 2023.
- Evans et al: Language Development and Social Integration of Pupils with English as an Additional Language, Cambridge Education Research, 2020: https://tinyurl.com/33ec9dfk
- Young Interpreters: https://tinyurl.com/288tedf7
Resources from The Bell Foundation
- EAL Assessment Framework: https://tinyurl.com/4j3vwnp4
- Great Ideas: https://tinyurl.com/2p9jsxpn
- Enhancing classroom talk: https://tinyurl.com/3dpmvrps
- Supporting parental involvement: https://tinyurl.com/2tef5uh4
- Translanguaging: https://tinyurl.com/46ucja7u