The podcast features three experts and opens with each guest offering their three tenets of best practice for EAL.
We discuss what primary school leaders can do to ensure effective whole-school provision for EAL pupils, including effective teaching and learning approaches.
We talk specifically about how to support refugee and asylum-seeking pupils given the arrival in recent years of children from Afghanistan, Ukraine and elsewhere.
The podcast discusses EAL pupils’ English language development, including what our panellists think about the use of phonics versus language immersion techniques? And how can we best assess early levels of English fluency and use assessment in general to understand progress?
And we also tackle the challenge of integrating mid-year arrivals (and their families) into the school and school life, especially in years 2 and 6 when SATs are looming – how can we best support pupils while also preparing them urgently for assessments.
The podcast includes expertise from The Bell Foundation and signposts to a number of free resources to support the work of schools.
This episode is hosted as ever by Helen Frostick, a National Leader of Education and a retired primary school headteacher. Her guests this time are:
- Sabah Malik has been working in senior leadership positions for the past 10 years. She is currently working in a large infant school in Hillingdon and leads the early years, including a large nursery.
- Katherine Solomon is programme and training director at the Bell Foundation Trust, a charity working to overcome exclusion through language education.
- Dominique Fattorusso has worked as a teacher for 22 years specialising in Inclusion and is now in her third year working as a local authority advisor for SEND and EAL across the age ranges. She became a licensed Bell Foundation practitioner six years ago and has a Master’s degree in leading inclusive education.
You can listen to this episode of the Headteacher Update Podcast above. To hear other Headteacher Update podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'The Headteacher Update Podcast' in your podcast streaming application of choice. Or visit www.headteacher-update.com/knowledge-bank/podcasts/
For details about The Headteacher Update Podcast, or to suggest future topics, email editor Pete Henshaw at pete.henshaw@markallengroup.com