EAL at Hollymount School
Hollymount School is a multicultural, multilingual school. We have over a third of our children who speak languages other than English at home. These children learn through a language – English – which isn’t their first language (English as an Additional Language) All teachers support their language development but we also have a teacher, Miss Whitworth who is a specialist in this area and can support staff.
There are many languages represented in school: Polish, Portuguese, Slovakian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Thai, Romanian, Italian, Indian, French, Nepali, Twi, Hindi, Greek, Urdu, Kurdish, Malayalam, Panjabi, Yoruba, Turkish & Bulgarian.
Support for EAL Children
Children who arrive with no English are usually conversational within a year although it can take 4 to 5 years to be truly fluent in a new language. All staff receive training on how to support EAL learners in the classroom and use resources to adapt lessons.
Young Translators
Children who have been in England for a few years are often asked to help translate for newer children and parents. These ‘Young Translators’ are usually in Years 5 or 6 and wear badges to show which languages they can speak. We also have several bilingual staff at Hollymount who can help new families settle into school. We currently have staff who speak Polish, Romanian, Urdu & Punjabi.
“I help other children by translating for them.” IM Y5
“I am good at explaining things to my friends when they get stuck. I speak English and Portuguese.” SV Y6