Policy for Pupils for whom English is an Additional Language

Statement of Aims

The school is committed to making appropriate provision of teaching and resources
for pupils for whom English is an additional language.

The school will identify individual pupils' needs at the earliest opportunity, recognise
the skills they bring to the school and ensure equality of access to the whole curriculum.
We aim to ensure that all EAL pupils are able to:

• Use English confidently and competently
• Use English as a means to learning across the curriculum
• Where appropriate, make use of their knowledge of other languages

The EAL department – Senior School

For students whose first language is not English, the EAL department provides courses to develop English language skills and communicative ability. Through structured course content students are assisted in both skills and language development. The aims of the department are to enhance the students' language proficiency and build confidence to help them achieve both academic and social success in an English-speaking environment.

In 2009-2010 the department consists of 3 members of staff, providing EAL support in all years. In years 1-5 students follow general English courses and have the opportunity in year 5 to take the Cambridge FCE exam. In the sixth form students attend an IELTS preparation course leading to the IELTS exam, an essential qualification in the students' university application process.

In the lower school, non-native speakers of English receive 3 lessons a week of EAL tuition, in addition to their mainstream English classes. In the fourth and fifth years, those who would not benefit from attempting GCSE English follow EAL courses and receive 5 timetabled sessions. Sixth form students attend 2 periods of IELTS classes per week. This is minimum provision. In addition, the department aims to assist students with specific needs through offering GCSE support classes, subject specific support and preparation for university interviews in the upper sixth.

As far as possible, EAL lessons take place within the regular timetable. However, due to timetable constraints some lessons take place during tutor periods, at lunch times and for the sixth form on Saturday mornings.

Assessment of Needs

International students sit an entrance exam prior to acceptance into Caterham School. This consists of an English paper to assess their English language ability and suitability for academic study at Caterham. Only students who show evidence of sufficient communicative competence are selected.

Subsequently, upon arrival at Caterham School, the new students are retested to reassess their English language level and language needs. The placement tests are sat prior to the start of the autumn term during the students' induction programme and consist of a short interview with an EAL member of staff, to assess oral communicative ability, and a short essay, to assess writing skills and written communicative ability.

The results of the assessments inform placement of the students into EAL classes. At Caterham we aim to group students according to ability. Once grouped, the students are assessed more informally in class during the first week of term and any amendments to settings can be made.

Student needs are continually monitored with regular discussions on student progress within the department. Feedback from subject teachers, tutors and boarding staff is also requested to flag any students who may be struggling and to inform EAL provision.

In addition, students sit more formal, internal English examinations to monitor attainment. Combined with teacher assessment, these results highlight students capable of transferring to the GCSE programme in the fourth year and those students more suited to following the EAL course.

Teaching and Learning

We aim to keep class sizes small and grouped according to ability to best meet the needs of our students. As a result we hope to encourage a relaxed and friendly learning environment where students can grow in confidence, where mistakes are accepted and viewed as an essential stage in language acquisition and where relationships can be built that allow students to feel comfortable expressing themselves in English and exploring the communicative possibilities of the language.

EAL lessons aim to be engaging and interactive. Topics are chosen that aim to appeal to teens and a variety of activities are selected within a lesson to maintain pace and meet the needs of differing learning styles within the groups. Each year group follows a course book, which is supplemented with additional material. The First to Fifth Years are also encouraged to read through the study of a set text. A typical lesson would comprise whole group discussions, pair work and individual work.

Emphasis is on the phrasal nature of the English language, so in our approach to teaching EAL, students are encouraged to study natural phrases and collocations presented in context. We aim to teach language in context often using reading texts as a stimulus (stories, magazine articles etc), which assists comprehension and communicates meaning more accurately.

Students receive regular feedback on their attainment and performance either orally and through whole class error correction or individually through written comments.

In addition to teaching English, we aim to enrich our students' cultural experiences here in England. In the summer term, the EAL department runs a sightseeing trip to London, which includes a Thames River cruise and a walking tour of many historical and cultural buildings and landmarks.

The Prep School, including EYFS

At the Prep School a register of children for whom English is not their first or only spoken language is kept. Individual decisions about specific support for EAL issues are made in each case. Each child's support plan is reflected on the register.

It is unusual for the Prep School to have children who are not fluent in English regardless of other language abilities and backgrounds.

In the case that a pupil is unable to access the curriculum comfortably in English a specific personal support plan will be made. The creation of such a plan will be supported by opinion and advice from the EAL teachers at the senior school, class teacher, SENCO and parents.