English as an Additional Language
Here at Chiltern Academy we strive to support all pupils, both in and outside of the classroom.
All staff are aware of our pupils with EAL, and their levels of English proficiency. Pupils are identified as EAL when they join the school in year 7, through in depth communication with primary school. New starters in the middle of the school term undertake English and Mathematics testing. If appropriate, use of their own language is also assessed.
Luton is a diverse town, and we understand that a high level of EAL occurs with many of our students. To help with this we use interventions and computer software to support our pupils, regardless of their first language, including:
- The Bell Foundation
- Lexia
- MyON reading
- Linguascope
Pupils are placed in classes that match their ability, whilst given interventions to support their English.
Children who are new to English are given daily intervention in the morning, followed by mainstream lessons thereafter, where fellow pupils and teachers model their language skills. During intervention pupils are given guided phonics, basic reading skills, low level grammar plus the basic building blocks needed to read, write and speak in English.
Students with a basic grasp of the English language are given 3 hours of English intervention alongside twice weekly form times consisting of spelling, reading and grammar. At this point we are looking to improve phonetic errors as well as correct prepositions, whilst expanding sentences using conjunctions. Grammar is also improved as we look to develop more complex language skills and branch into subject specific knowledge.
Pupils who have begun to develop a further fluency in English have 2 hours of intervention a week, in conjunction with twice weekly forms of spelling, reading and grammar. Interventions are linked into the pupils' lessons, to ensure they are in the best position to join full time mainstream lessons. Subject specific knowledge is greatly expanded, to help with understanding of key words and definitions in complicated subjects.