EAL Letter

Dear Parent/Carer,

Your child has been identified as a student who has English as an Additional Language (EAL).  My role as the EAL Co-ordinator is to support your child across the curriculum to ensure that they are able to access the curriculum whilst continuing to develop their skills and abilities. Part of my role is to identify key areas that your child needs to develop in order to access the curriculum so that they can achieve their best.

In order to identify an EAL student’s individual and specific needs careful liaison has taken place with your child, their teachers, subject leaders and head of house.  An EAL ‘Individual Education Plan’ (EAL IEP) has been created which charts a student’s progress across their subjects, and provides targets for development which both the teacher and student can focus on in order to develop their skills. This is reviewed termly to ensure that it is kept up to date.

We offer a range of support for students which include: 1-1 sessions, support in class, homework club and targeted interventions. The targeted interventions are for students who are not making their expected progress in core subjects.  The Year 7-9 Intervention is based upon liaison with teachers and a student’s Accelerated Reader NRSS score. This intervention focuses on improving their literacy and comprehension of texts with the aim of increasing overall reading ability. The Year 10-11 intervention group is identified through a range of data, including their mock GCSE results. This intervention focuses on the core GCSE skills and subject content that students will need for their exams. If your child is identified as needing to attend either of these interventions you will receive a letter, however if you feel that your child would benefit from attending then please do not hesitate to contact me at office@neatherd.org .

Furthermore, through liaison with the exams officer, EAL students are entered for GCSEs in their home language and are supported as much as possible in preparing for these exams.  However, please do be aware that there is no specific teaching time allocated to these exams and students are expected to revise at home. If possible, we will arrange a tutor to teach students afterschool and more details regarding this will follow. These exams are generally taken in Year 10 to ensure that students do not have the added pressure of this additional exam in Year 11. If you wish your son/daughter to take a First Language exam please do contact me as soon as possible.

Finally, I am available in the Library for EAL Homework Club afterschool on Thursdays 3.30-4.15pm- this is a drop in session where students can attend as and when needed. If you have any questions about the support I can give or would like to meet with me to discuss any EAL issues your child may have, please do not hesitate to contact me.   

Ben Banks

EAL Coordinator/HLTA