EAL (English as an Additional Language)

At Salford City Academy we believe that all students must feel secure, respected, and appreciated in order to succeed academically.

This is especially important for pupils learning English as a second language (EAL), which represents 24% of our students. Most of our EAL students speak Arabic and Mandarin. Additionally, there are students speaking Ukrainian, Urdu, Polish, Spanish, German, Czech, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Punjabi and Farsi.

As a result, we recognise and respect their native language and cultural background.

Salford City Academy is committed to helping all students who are learning English as an additional language and works to:

• Give all EAL students equal chances to succeed
• Provide high-quality teaching so they can have full access to the curriculum
• Support them to improve their English speaking, listening, reading, and writing
• Encourage the use of their home languages, by giving  the opportunity to take a GCSE exam in their home language where these are available
• Check their progress to improve teaching
• Create a welcoming and inclusive school environment by celebrating events such as Refugee Week, Black History Month, European Day of Languages (EDL) and World Language Days with assemblies and related activities.
• Provide a smooth transition to secondary school by working with primary feeder schools
• Ensure that communications sent on behalf of the school are accessible to EAL parents and carers, by translating documents into home languages and providing access to interpreters.

Studying the full curriculum is an entitlement for all of our students, including those for whom English is an additional language.

We believe that EAL students make the most progress when they learn alongside their peers. For this reason, they are placed in mainstream classes from their very first day at the Academy.

Accordingly, the language development of all students is the responsibility of subject teachers, who understand that achieving fluency in an additional language takes time, especially when it comes to mastering the range of vocabulary and structures needed for an active involvement in class.

Classrooms are organised to promote social and cultural inclusion. EAL students sit with designated buddies that speak their language, where possible, and are good role models.

All students learning English as an Additional Language that join the academy will have an initial evaluation within the first week of starting school, as well as continuous ongoing assessments.

 The progress of students in learning English will be consistently evaluated and tracked.

The initial evaluation will be carried out by Salford Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS). EMTAS are an external agency that provides support to schools in the Salford area, to help them meet the additional needs of their ethnic minority pupils.

A teacher from EMTAS will meet with the pupil during their first week at the Academy to carry out the initial assessment and, according to the pupil’s initial proficiency, 1:1 weekly intervention will be organised.

Once students have met the targets of Band C/D they will drop EMTAS 1:1 intervention and their needs will be supported through appropriate teaching strategies. Bilingual dictionaries for class use are provided upon request to KS3 students, while KS4 students receive one to use in their mock exams as per their access arrangements.