English as an Additional Language

Who receives this service?

The Service works with children and young people who:

Come from ethnic minority backgrounds;
Can communicate with the family and sometimes with the wider community in the language/s of the home - but need to learn English and Welsh in order to access the curriculum and to communicate with peers, teachers at school and others who live in Wales.

What does the service offer?

Ensures that Gwynedd and Anglesey schools have provision for children learning English (and Welsh) in schools.
Ensures that specific guidance and training is available for schools to plan effectively to respond to pupils’ needs.
Offers interventions tailored to the specific needs of pupils.
A member of the team can come into the school to work for a specific time to train staff and share good practice in order to support the pupils to achieve specific targets.
Support for teachers to differentiate lessons for EAL pupils in order to facilitate language learning (two languages) at the same time as teaching the curriculum.
Encouragement and support to schools to offer the opportunity to pupils with EAL to acquire qualifications in their mother tongue, where possible.
Support schools in raising awareness of equality, culture, language and diversity issues.
Support schools with the induction of pupils and families who have arrived in a new country with a language and culture that is totally new to them.

**Who’s in the Team?**
Senior EAL Specialist Teacher
Helen Speddy
EAL Specialist Teacher
Awel Haf Parry
Senior EAL Specialist Teaching Assistant
Ivana Rowlands

How can the service be accessed?

The Service can be accessed by requesting a referral form from GweinyddolADYaCh@gwynedd.llyw.cymru

Every school is expected to offer support to pupils who are learning both English and Welsh.

A school should:

Ensure that there is a designated person in each school. The designated person will be responsible for monitoring the welfare and progress of pupils throughout the school who are learning English and Welsh as additional languages.
Establish systems to target and support individuals as required
Develop a friendly and inclusive learning environment and ethos in the classroom for individuals who are learning English (and Welsh).
Develop an environment that allows time to develop specific language skills within the school day
Ensure that everyone in the school knows which language/languages the pupils speak and show respect for the pupils’ first language/s.

Who else can help?

For parents/carers who are learning English:

www.gllm.ac.uk/learn-teach-english

For parents/carers to help their children to learn English

Other useful websites:

https://ealresources.bell-foundation.org.uk/parents

What can you do at home?

Encourage the pupil to watch programmes of interest on television in the target language (English / Welsh).
Encourage the pupil to listen to music on the radio or online (English / Welsh).
Visit the local library to borrow books of interest. Read the books together by using the pictures to understand the meaning of words.
Encourage your child to take part in after school activities e.g. drama / singing / football / gymnastics / swimming. Your children will learn the language from other friends in the group.
Encourage your child to practise using English by playing games / listening to the stories/ joining in with the songs on the British Council website (see above). Watch films or stories on the BBC 'Learn English' website (see above).
Continue to speak and develop the pupil’s first language at home. Research has shown that developing and continuing to use the first language will benefit the child when learning a new language.