English as an Additional Language (EAL)

The Howard Partnership Trust respects and values linguistic diversity.

Pupils, young people and staff have an entitlement to know that their natural language is valued by the whole school community. Our schools are fully committed to making appropriate provision of teaching and resources for pupils and young people for whom English is an additional language and for raising the achievement of ethnic minority pupils and young people who are at risk from underachievement and for ensuring they achieve the highest possible standards.

Our schools robustly identify individual pupil’s and young people’s needs, recognises and values the unique skills they bring to school and ensures equality of access to the curriculum.

Pupils for whom English is an additional language may have diverse needs in terms of the support they need to improve their English language learning. Our schools provide individual curriculum planning taking into account the pupil’s age, length of time in this country, previous educational experience and skills in other languages. There is precise monitoring of each pupil’s and young person’s progress in the acquisition of English language skills and of subject knowledge and understanding. Targeted specialist support will be immediately sought should additional learning or pastoral needs be identified.

Our schools are acutely aware of the importance of understanding the cultural background and family circumstances of pupils and young people with EAL. We offer additional support for parents and carers such as the use of interpreters, in-depth first language assessment and sensitive handling of meetings with external agencies, for example, educational psychologists.