EAL Strategy

Belong Believe Aspire Achieve

At KFJS, we are proud to be a diverse and multilingual community where many children speak more than one language. When joining the school, we make sure every child and every family feels welcomed, included and supported.

Children who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL) bring a wealth of experiences, cultures and perspectives that contribute positively to the ethos of our school. Our core values Belong, Believe, Aspire and Achieve help all pupils feel a sense of belonging, believe in their abilities, aspire to high standards, and achieve their full potential. Our role is to support children in developing confidence and proficiency in English while valuing, maintaining and celebrating their home languages.

Intent

At KFJS, all children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) receive a high‑quality education that supports both their language development and their wider learning. Through our inclusive culture, every child and family, regardless of linguistic or cultural background, feels welcomed, valued and supported. Staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to meet the needs of EAL learners, and initiatives such as our Young Interpreters programme help promote peer support, celebrate diversity and strengthen our core values.

Implementation

We implement our vision through strong pastoral and academic support. We work with families to build an understanding of each child’s strengths and needs. Across all year groups, classroom practice includes adaptive teaching and reasonable adjustments, such as bilingual books, visuals, talk tins and translation tools. Multilingual signs throughout the school further support language development and representation. EAL learners are included in all aspects of classroom learning to provide exposure to a rich, varied curriculum. We work with external agencies such as EMTAS when specialist advice or translation is needed. Children with EAL also have equal access to trips, clubs and wider enrichment opportunities.

Impact

Progress is monitored regularly through Pupil Achievement Meetings; children with EAL typically make good or better progress across the curriculum. They develop the confidence to communicate their needs, express their strengths and discuss areas for development. Children feel proud to celebrate their first language within school, contributing to a culturally rich community where diversity is valued. Through our inclusive practice and positive relationships with families, incidents linked to racism or discrimination remain minimal.

All EAL learners are fully included in classroom. Strategies to support development may include:

Language and Vocabulary

• Explicit teaching of key vocabulary using the tiered vocabulary model (Tier 1, 2 and 3 words).

• Pre‑teaching and sharing vocabulary with families, including translated versions when appropriate.

• Use of bilingual books, translation tools and visuals to support understanding.

Speaking and Listening

• Structured talk opportunities using talk frames, sentence stems and modelled language.

• Use of graphic organisers to support oral rehearsal before writing.

Reading and Writing

• Use of rich texts, selected with cultural sensitivity where appropriate.

• Strategies such as dictogloss, shared writing, substitution tables and sentence‑level scaffolds.

• Opportunities for pupils to plan or draft ideas in their home language before writing in English.

Adaptive Teaching

• chunking instructions

• modelling key language structures

• providing visuals, symbols and manipulatives

• using bilingual dictionaries, devices and Immersive Reader tools

• pairing EAL pupils with strong language role models

Assessment and Tracking

• We use recognised proficiency scales such as the Bell Foundation EAL Assessment Framework to track progress.

• Regular Pupil Achievement Meetings review the progress of EAL learners and guide next steps.

• Where needed, we work with EMTAS for specialist guidance, translation or assessment support.

Partnership with Families

• Translators, dual‑language materials and support from EMTAS are used when needed to strengthen communication.

• Families are encouraged to maintain and celebrate home languages, recognising their value in cognitive and emotional development.

• Key information, vocabulary or texts may be sent home in translation to aid support with learning.

Enrichment and Inclusion

• EAL learners have equal access to clubs, trips and wider curriculum opportunities.

• Pupil voice activities encourage confidence, belonging and leadership.

A helpful website to support reading: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ 

A useful leaflet can be found here:  https://documents.hants.gov.uk/education/emtas/All-about-EMTAS-leaflet.pdf

New Arrival

A new arrival is a child who is newly arrived in Britain who does not speak English. In this instance, the school will instantly contact the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS). This service is invaluable in helping to explain how the school works and explain confusing aspects of the school the child may be experiencing through an interpreter. 

Advanced Learners

If your child is EAL and an advanced learner, it means that although English is a second language they speak and write competently in English. It is important that the school knows if a child has EAL as it can affect grammar and some receptive language (understanding of spoken language). Knowledge a child has EAL means the teacher and EAL coordinator (Mrs Wright) can put support and provision into place. 

It is expected that new arrivals may be mute in class for up to 6 months as they take in and learn the language. English is often first used in social situations in the playground before the child is confident enough to use English within the classroom setting.

EAL and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)

EMTAS are also helpful in helping to ascertain whether a child with EAL has a special educational need, or whether the language barrier is holding their progress back.

EMTAS details: https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/emtas

Email: emtas@hants.gov.uk 

EMTAS language phone lines for parents/carers

The below help lines available for information and support with home-school communication, or if you have any questions relating to your child’s education or well-being. The phone number for all languages is 03707 794222.

The phone line assistants all speak good English so if you can use even a little English you can call at any of the times listed below.

If you need an interpreter for any other language just ring EMTAS: 03707 794222 or email: emtas@hants.gov.uk with your contact details and the language you speak and they will do their best to help you.