The term EAL is used to refer to students for whom English is a second, third or even fourth language - an additional language. EAL students are not a homogenous group. They come from a range of religious, cultural, socio-economic, educational and linguistic backgrounds. Their wealth of experiences is valued and built upon.
We are a very successful department which has gained national recognition and ‘Outstanding’ at every OFSTED Inspection. Basuli
Basu is the Head of Department; Susan Williams and Alan North are the EAL teachers. Three Bilingual Assistants, proficient in Punjabi, Urdu & Bengali are additional assets for this high profile team. They are Rukhsana Ayub, Maninder Bajwa and Dilara Hossein.
We support students through a range of effective strategies. All EAL teachers teach in Partnership with mainstream teachers across the curriculum and age range. In – class support is provided by both EAL teachers and Bilingual Assistants to further raise attainment.
The department runs a club every lunchtime to help EAL students with their coursework and homework.
Regular INSET programmes for staff are delivered to enable mainstream teachers to understand EAL issues and ensure that they are best equipped to support students across the curriculum.
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In Key Stage 3 we run literacy classes for students who are at an early stage of learning English. These students enjoy the opportunity to further develop their English language skills. The course makes use of ICT and drama and takes a holistic view of learning. The aim of this course is to raise attainment across the curriculum by developing skills and building confidence.
In Key Stage 4 we have developed a curriculum to support EAL students with their English language and literature GCSEs. This means that we will be studying poetry, prose and non-fiction texts. Following this there are also units on Media, a GCSE Drama text and the world of work. We will be learning how to create a CV, write a job application letter, practise interview sessions and invite college representatives to speak to students.
Finally as students near their GCSE exams they will be taking exam skills lessons, in order to understand exactly what examiners will be requiring of them and how they can improve their grades.
Outside the classroom
Multilingual March
The EAL Department’s success does not only lie within the classroom. It is a crucially important department, which prides in events beyond the remits of the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.
Multilingual Marchis a celebrationof the linguistically rich student and staff community. Students take part in a range of activities which explicitly value the cultural and linguistic heritage of our pupils and promote language learning, anti - racist and anti - discriminatory attitudes. The key focuses of these activities lend themselves to a broad and balanced curriculum in order to enhance the learning of monolingual as well as multilingual students.
Activities have included theme-based assemblies, information and activity packs for tutor-time, bilingual story-telling, poetry reading, displays of multilingual writing and results of language surveys.
Refugee Week
The department leads the school in celebrating Refugee Week along with the rest of the country during June. A booklet is produced for tutorial time. In the EAL Literacy classes, students learn about world cuisine. In collaboration with the library, a lunch is organised on the last day to enjoy foods from all over the world. The atmosphere is phenomenal; students’ posters from the EAL Literacy classes adorn the very well-resourced library; the aroma of mouth-watering dishes fill the air; and teachers and students dine together adding to the joie de vivre. The students feel proud of their heritage and the culture of tolerance and mutual respect in Loxford School of Science & Technology is further evident during this week. The department also presents special assemblies to all year groups during Refugee Week. It is with a view to dispelling stereotypical images and promoting the positive contribution of refugees.
Primary Liaison
We play a significant role in liaising with feeder Primary Schools. This supports our intervention strategies when students arrive in the new academic year. In addition, staff from the EAL Department teach in Summer school. We are then fully prepared to welcome new Year 7 students.
Support for your learning
All students should be provided with equality of access to the National Curriculum.
EAL teachers are proud to work in a school where the skills of bilingual students are recognised. Our role is to help make the curriculum accessible and to support the English language and literacy development of bilingual learners in different subjects and across all year groups.
We value community languages and encourage students to gain accreditation for their language skills by entering them for GCSE examinations in their first language: Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujerati, Arabic, Russian and Turkish.
The progress of bilingual students is monitored closely so that if difficulties arise, appropriate support can be provided.
Lunchtime club
Students can come to Room S15 at lunchtime every day where EAL teachers are available to help with homework. There is a wide range of bilingual dictionaries as well as encyclopaedias and other books for study or reading for pleasure. Students may also play board games or use the computers.
