English as an Additional Language

Our vision is to create an environment which celebrates the rich diversity of languages and cultures within our school, where children and families feel welcome, included and supported engaging in opportunities which allow all children to flourish.

'To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.' Chinese Proverb

 At Penwortham we settle children as quickly as possible into school life; they take part in the daily routines and structures, this helps them to develop not only an understanding of the academic aspects of English but the use of the English language to socially interact. We work with families to ensure a smooth transition into Penwortham school, we introduce families to staff and community members who may speak the same language or a part of the same home culture. We find out as much as possible about children at their induction where children meet our pastoral and behaviour lead whilst their parents/carers meet with the Deputy Head. In these meetings we can find out what children love and enjoy, what they might like more help in and how they learn best. By taking account of and celebrating each child's learning experiences and needs all children thrive. 

A rising number of our children speak more than one language, this is a fact to celebrate at Penwortham! We acknowledge children's ability to communicate and interact in more than one language as an achievement. 

 What does EAL (English as an Additional Language) look like at Penwortham?

When a child whose first language is not English joins Penwortham their journey looks like this:

• Parent or carers are invited to the school for a tour.
• The child/ren will meet with out Pastoral and Behaviour Lead where they will have time and space to share their thoughts and feelings, talk about what they love to learn and what they might find tricky, see the important places in school like their new classroom, the toilets, where they will eat and much more
• Our whole school books are shared with the family.
• A few “buddies” are chosen to help support the child in the first few weeks of school.
• The child is provided with a welcome pack and key vocabulary. This includes photographs of key people and important places in the school 
• The class teachers will assess the child/ren in reading, phonics, mathematics and writing using their own assessments this is not done immediately so that the child/ren are able to settle first and is always done in a way that is child led and supportive.
• If appropriate phonic and reading interventions will support the child as they learn English.
• The children will take part in differentiated lessons with group or paired work so that the child is exposed to as much English as possible.
• Scaffolding is provided such as sentence starters, true and false statements or mind maps.
• Key visuals through the use of Colourful Semantics and wigits are used to help the child form grammatically correct sentences and offer them visual supports