EAL (English as an Additional Language)

English is the medium of teaching at Bromsgrove, despite a high percentage of our students having English as an Additional Language (EAL). We believe that all students have a right to access the curriculum, which is why we base our EAL provision on a model of Sheltered Immersion. Students on the EAL programme are well-supported at BIST and it is the objective of the EAL department to improve proficiency in English to a suitable enough level to be able to access the curriculum independently.

Children who enter the school during the Foundation stage at our Early Years campus can learn English sufficiently enough to cope with the demands of a year 1 classroom. However, children arriving in higher year groups often need additional support in English language. For students in Year 1 and Year 2, we offer an EAL programme for those whose English language skills are emerging and developing. Our aim is to ensure that their level of English is proficient enough to cope with the demands of the Year 2 curriculum in the Primary School.

Tier 1 – General EAL support

As part of our access to learning the EAL team work with children to bridge their English understanding in school. This involves withdrawing the children from class to focus on the four strands of English: Listening and comprehension, Speaking, Reading and Writing, as well as phonics, grammar and pre-teaching or repeating vocabulary/going over classwork done in class.

Tier 2 – Intensive EAL

For those children who are in the early stages of acquiring the English language, they require additional support to help make faster progress in learning English so they can begin to access the classroom teaching and learning. This programme uses an Intensive English programme and is bespoke to a child or group of children depending on need. The programme may include:

Daily conversational English sessions,
Withdrawal in small groups to work on speaking, listening, reading and writing of the English language using the Intensive EAL programme,
Some in-class support for specific areas of the curriculum to further support and aid understanding.

NB. As Tier 2 is a bespoke service it may include any combination of the above.

For new students, the initial tests and interview will identify if EAL is required, and at which level. For existing children, there is an initial assessment at the beginning of the new academic year by the EAL team, and class teachers. This will identify which children will join the Tier 1 EAL programme.

Either at the Admissions stage or following these assessments, some children will be identified as needing Tier 2 EAL to provide further support. These children receive both Tier 1 and Tier 2 support.

The Secondary EAL provision

Intensive English

This is for Years 7-9 students who require support above and beyond the standard EAL programmes. Students are withdrawn from English, and Science lessons for specific English Language support. Students must have a basic level of English to access this programme.

Key Stage 3 EAP

This is for students in Years 7-9 who require additional English language support to access the curriculum. The support they receive is adapted to suit the student, and could be in the form of small group sessions or specific support in lessons while following the standard curriculum.

Key Stage 4 EAP

This is for students in Years 10 and 11 who are following a modified GCSE pathway. EAP is one of their option choices. Students study this with the EAL team who work together with the English faculty to prepare students for the English Second Language iGCSE.

In-class Support EAP

EAL teachers provide in-class support to students whose first language is not English. The EAL teachers may co-teach or work with students in small groups. This provision ensures that the planning and delivery of lessons takes into account the specific needs of our EAL students.