English as an additional language

Our country is multilingual, with an estimated 360 languages across the country. At St Martin's we are proud to have children in our setting who speak 49 different first languages.

At St Martin's we are committed to making appropriate provision of teaching and resources for pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL). We know that children with EAL may need more help to understand and access their learning. With this in mind, we do everything we can to make all children feel comfortable and help them to understand and engage with in school. Some of the things we do to help children with EAL are:

Use the REMA Service (Race Equality and Minority Achievement Service). This is a specialist service that provides a range of advice and support to schools, working with pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds, including EAL.
Children may also be given additional support from their class teacher or Learning Support Assistants, depending on the level of need. This may include 1-2-1 support or group work.
We may have a visual timetable for the child, so they can understand the routine of the school day.
We have feelings or emotions on picture cards and on displays, so children can label their own and others emotions.
We have photographs of staff, peers and resources, to support children to plan their session with an adult.
We utilise technology to support understanding, whether this is translating documents or letters, or the use of Chromebooks and Google Translate. We would also use staff members where possible and appropriate.
We have an Additional Language Library, showcasing some of our favourite childhood books in a variety of languages. Children also have the opportunity to take home books that are being read in class. This is so they can read and digest them at their own pace, with help from their family.

Each classroom has a breakdown of their first languages (example shown below). This is always a great talking point for our children and this encourages them to be curious about other languages and cultures.