Multilingualism (EAL (English as an Additional Language))

We are very lucky to speak so many languages at Southmead School!

What is EAL?
EAL stands for English as an Additional Language.

We are so proud of our EAL pupils and of any of our pupils who learn to speak more than one language.

We love sharing the languages and cultures our children bring into the classroom.

Many of our pupils find sharing languages inspiring and we find that some of our children seek out other languages to learn at home because of this.

Where can I find information on EAL?

We are guided by Devon County Council. There is a link HERE to information regarding Devon's EAL service.

We also make use of some resources from the Bell Foundation.

Can I share a language we speak at home with the school?

Please do! We would love to find out if there are any more languages in our area. We would love to celebrate these languages in class with our pupils. Just speak to our Office Staff or to a Class Teacher, to get in touch.

What support will be in place for my EAL child?

Your child will be part of an inclusive, friendly community here at Southmead. Staff are keen to learn and share languages with each other and with the children. Staff always endeavour to do what is best to support the children and to tailor learning to their needs, as we understand everyone has their own personal learning journey. Depending on your child's needs, they may receive additional support to learn English or if they are already confident in English, then support will be available as needed.

Can you give an example of what a child might receive?

Absolutely! It depends on their needs and level of proficiency in English, as we would tailor to their needs, but here are some of the examples of support we could put in place.

1. We have had children who have spoken English very fluently, but staff had noticed some mistakes in their sentence building. Our school uses Colourful Semantics and the Sentence Toolkit to support learning in these areas, so additional time was spent with these children to work on this to secure their learning, making the grammar very visual.

2. We have had children who have previously experienced trauma, or grief, so plans were put into place with Whole Class Thrive, Healing Classrooms and access to FIG (Families in Grief).

3. We have had children who were still learning BICs (everyday, social language), so these children had time to develop BICs language with a specialist.

4. Where staff have spotted any gaps in learning, our EAL learners join intervention schemes to support them across the curriculum alongside other children.

5. Languages are celebrated in our school and many staff members are keen to learn new phrases from our students. We also do a "Language of the Month" in school to try out new phrases and greetings.

6. For students new to English, we have implemented the Essential Letters and Sounds Phonics programme used in our school, which allows students to develop their reading and writing skills.

7. High-quality "Talk for Writing" strategies were used by a highly trained professional for a group of students who were developing their English skills.

8. Staff worked alongside students, who had brought a new language to our school, to record key phrases that staff could learn.

Schools of Sanctuary

We are currently in the process of working to ensure that Southmead becomes a School of Sanctuary.

What is a School of Sanctuary?

Schools of Sanctuary is an accredited network of schools who are dedicated to creating a culture of welcome, understanding and belonging for those seeking sanctuary.

As the families of our students know, Southmead is dedicated to creating an inclusive learning experience. Our values of respect, equality, self-confidence, perseverance, enjoyment, curiosity and trust align perfectly with the Schools of Sanctuary goals.