Teaching, learning and meeting the needs of all
Strengths
Aspects for improvement
Almost all schools are involving newly-arrived children in mainstream classes from the start. However, few are using assessments effectively to identify the language development of children and young people in relation to the five stages of English development.3 Many schools are finding it difficult to get interpreting support to assist at enrolment meetings. As a result, staff are not always collecting important information on the children’s prior learning to enable them to provide teaching and learning approaches that are well paced or well matched to their needs. Assessment materials are rarely available in children’s first languages. This presents a significant challenge to teachers in identifying the current levels of performance of children and young people and areas where they may need support. Young people’s limited experience of English makes it difficult for them to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in areas of the curriculum. Some children and young people feel that insufficient account is taken of their prior achievements. In some schools, we found that newly-arrived young people were placed in the lowest-attaining groups and classes. This sometimes led to low expectations of their achievement and lack of challenge in their work.
One authority has developed its own assessment materials and has translations in the main home languages. A number of schools are using these materials effectively to gather and use assessment information with the aim of putting in place strategies to raise the achievements of bilingual children and to target EAL support carefully.
Staff in almost all schools are relying upon the support of specialist teachers from EAL services for the initial and ongoing assessment of children’s needs. Staff from EAL services play a key role in assessing, planning and providing direct support to meet the needs of newly-arrived children and young people. In some authorities, the level of EAL support is not always sufficient to address the needs of the increasing numbers of newly-arrived children. In the best examples of schools visited, senior managers ensured that staff were well informed about the different bilingual learners in the school and about their own individual and collective responsibility for meeting the needs of children and young people. Staff in these schools work collaboratively with staff from EAL services to plan how best to support children with their language acquisition and to access the curriculum. They are making effective use of the roles of EAL specialists and seek advice on appropriate strategies and tasks. In these cases, teachers clearly see themselves as the first and main support to newly-arrived children and young people. Overall, class teachers are not always confident about how to enable new arrivals to access the curriculum and develop English as an additional language. They need more guidance on how best to support children to acquire English and develop English language skills.
Bilingual staff who share children’s languages are using children’s abilities in their home language to help them transfer skills and knowledge from their first language to English. However, few schools have trained bilingual staff. Some schools have parent helpers or contacts in the community who are helping children and young people develop and maintain their home language and use it as a tool for learning. Overall, however, schools do not give enough attention to encouraging children and young people to use their first language, particularly when the cognitive challenge is high and they are still developing proficiency in English. Learners are able to understand and participate more fully in tasks and activities when they can use their first language as a tool for learning. Young people at the senior stages find study in some subjects particularly challenging because of the language of the subject, especially the terminology. In one school, young people were finding it very helpful to have opportunities to discuss ideas and solutions in their first language with peers before reporting on their findings. In a number of schools, teachers encourage children to make effective use of bilingual dictionaries, dual language books and talking or photo dictionaries to support their learning.
In two of the authorities visited, newly-arrived young people at the secondary stages have access to additional support through beginners’ classes. A few secondary schools are providing young people with relevant programmes in English for speakers of other language (ESOL). In one of those authorities, some young people can have their achievements in their main home language recognised through GCSE and Scottish Qualifications Authority awards.
Education authorities are making effective use of the framework provided by The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 to guide the provision of additional support for bilingual learners. Nevertheless, EAL/bilingual services are severely stretched. Staff are concerned about the ability to balance the needs of established bilingual learners with those of newly-arrived learners.
When asked what would make their experience of school better, newly-arrived children said that they would like more support to develop their English language skills. Young people at secondary school also wanted opportunities to maintain their first language. They would like more subject-specific translated material as they find it very difficult to understand some of the more technical language using general dictionaries. Some feel that their language and culture are not sufficiently recognised and that the curriculum does not take enough account of their cultural background.
Improving education for newly-arrived children and young people
All children and young people in Scotland have an entitlement to a curriculum which will support them in developing their values and beliefs and enable them to:
so that they can develop well-informed views and act responsibly. They should be encouraged to adopt an active and healthy lifestyle and be equipped with the skills needed for planning their future lives and careers.
Building the Curriculum 3
Staff plan future outcomes, both curricular and relating to personal development, after reflecting on children’s previous learning. They involve young people, parents and other partners in planning future learning.
The Journey to Excellence Part 2, Page 42
Issues to consider |
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School: Cuthbertson Primary School, Glasgow City Council |
Focus: Supporting the achievements of new arrivals Description of practice A significant number of newly-arrived children attend Cuthbertson Primary School. The school has developed clear and effective approaches to welcoming new arrivals and to meeting their needs. The headteacher is directly involved in making newly-arrived children and their families feel welcome in school from the first point of contact. The school collects a range of information, including family context, previous schooling, religion and health issues. It also ensures that information relating to their child’s learning is given to parents at the initial discussions. The headteacher and principal teacher support staff in using the information to plan an appropriate programme to enable the child to settle and progress quickly. Careful consideration is given as to how best to support the child. Staff give good attention to assessing children’s level of English and their levels of achievement across the curriculum. Children are placed in classes appropriate to their chronological age and into groups with suitably high cognitive challenge. Approaches to planning help staff to identify the best strategies to use to help children access the curriculum and develop their English language skills. Effective timetabling by the headteacher ensures that additional support is well targeted to the different needs of learners. The school is very sensitive to children’s previous experience. It takes full account of children’s social, cultural, linguistic and academic backgrounds. Staff are aware that newly-arrived children will have a range of emotional, social, physical and intellectual needs. For example, there is a nurture group for those who may not have been in school before and who may need additional help in being away from their parents for the first time. Staff provide learning activities that build on children’s previous knowledge, understanding and experiences. They give good attention to modelling language and ensure that learning activities involved planned opportunities for speaking and listening. They also make effective use of children’s first languages to promote learning. At P1/P2, children count in several languages during interactive mathematics sessions. Children at P4/P5 decided that they wanted to learn more about the sea as part of their environmental studies. This has given them successful opportunities to work with others to ask questions and share information. Staff make effective use of visual support and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to promote children’s achievements and English language acquisition. At P2/P3, children have created big books about themselves and their families. The programme involves children using MP3 players and cameras, and includes paired-reading activities. The school is successful in:
Outcomes
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School: Edinburgh EAL Service and St Augustine’s High School, Edinburgh |
Focus: Supporting the achievements of new arrivals Description of Practice Staff from the school and Edinburgh’s EAL service provide considerable individual support to newly-arrived young people. The EAL service is always involved in enrolments to ensure that all relevant information on young people’s background and previous experiences is gathered. The specialist staff then work closely with staff from the support for learning department to assess young people’s levels of attainment and achievement. The EAL service advises teaching staff on helpful strategies for meeting young people’s learning needs. Young people attend ESOL classes to improve their proficiency and gain a qualification in English. The classes are run in conjunction with the EAL service and Stevenson College and offer three levels of qualification. Newly-arrived young people are encouraged to attend a homework club. They are motivated in their learning and want to do well. They participate well in the many extra-curricular groups organised by the school and are extending their wider achievements in, for example, football, rugby, dance and violin. The school is successful in:
Outcomes
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Service: Aberdeenshire EAL Service |
Focus: Supporting the achievements of new arrivals Description of practice Aberdeenshire EAL Service has developed a set of materials to assist staff in schools to identify and assess children and young people’s learning needs and plan appropriate support. The package supports schools in accessing interpreting assistance for the admissions interview and helps staff know what key information to gather. An initial assessment document for language competence guides staff to consider how children are able to use English in social contexts and in learning experiences. There is a helpful checklist for staff in early years establishments to help them observe the progress of pre-school children in acquiring English. A language profile assists teachers in monitoring the progress of children and young people across listening, talking, reading and writing, in line with the five stages of English development. Children and young people themselves complete a language profile, providing information about the language they use to speak to different people and the language they use when participating in social situations, for example, watching films, listening to music or helping at home. Joint planning documents and those for reviews of learners’ progress act as useful prompts to guide staff in enabling newly-arrived children and young people access the curriculum and develop English. The service is successful in:
Outcomes
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