English as an Additional Language
At Gledhow Primary School, we are very proud of the cultural and lingual diversity that our children have. Being bi-lingual or multi-lingual is a valuable skill and will provide our children with a wide range of opportunities in adult life. Our children's background, culture, faith and languages are important to us. Through our curriculum, we support all of our children to understand their place in the community and the wider word. We understand that children, families and staff in our school community come from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
This is why we believe it is so important to celebrate the languages spoken by our Gledhow community. We ensure that each class celebrates a language every half term. 'Language of the Half Term' helps us to recognise and celebrate the different languages, cultures and traditions of families at Gledhow and around the world.
Our Language of the Half Term for Autumn 2 is: Spanish
Learn some words and phrases by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvnBAQFsmu0&t=2s&ab_channel=LearnSpanishwithSpanishPod101.com
Did you know?
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Over 400 million people in the world speak Spanish.
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There are 21 countries that have Spanish as the official language.
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Spanish has Latin origins.
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Spanish is also called Español.
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Spanish is a phonetic language.
Our Language of the Half Term for Spring 1 is: Urdu
Listen to some stories and poems in Urdu by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/@UrduKids
Did you know?
- There are about 105,000,000 people in the world who can speak Urdu.
- Urdu is the official language of Pakistan.
- Urdu is also spoken in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, India, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom and Zambia.
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English is said to have been derived from a lot of languages. Here are some English words of Urdu origin
Khaki = dusty, grey
Pashmina
Pyjamas = trousers
Typhoon = Toofan or storm
Our Language of the Half Term for Spring 2 is: German
Learn some words and phrases by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq1U12_NgXQ&ab_channel=GermanForKids
Did you know?
- German is is the official language in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein and one of the official languages in Switzerland and Luxembourg.
- German ranks 11th in the list of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
- In German, all nouns are capitalized. Unlike in English, where this rule only applies to proper nouns.
- German uses the Latin alphabet. It has, however, an additional consonant: the ß called "Eszett".
- The German language has lots of long words! They can usually be broken down for example: the word hand is the same in English and joins to the German word Schuhe (shoes) to form the noun Handschuhe - meaning ‘hand shoes’ or gloves in English!
Our Language of the Half Term for Summer 1 is: Mandarin
Learn some words and phrases by following this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=wzSH2AaNP2s&ab_channel=%E7%AE%80%E4%B8%ADLittleChineseLearners%5BSimplifiedChinese%5D
Did you know?
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Written Chinese is over 3000 years old!
- Chinese writing has around 50,000 characters...English language only has 26 letters!
- Over one billion people speak Mandarin and it is still the most commonly spoken language in the world.
- Mandarin is most commonly spoken in China, Malaysia, Taiwan & Singapore.
- The name 'Mandarin' was actually given by the Portuguese!
Our Language of the Half Term for Summer 2 is: Arabic
Learn some words and phrases by following this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yO433hdR2M&ab_channel=Osratounatv-%D9%82%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A9%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7
Did you know?
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There are around 280 million Arabic native speakers worldwide
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Arabic is an official language in 26 countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE... making it the fifth most spoken language in the world!
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Arabic has influenced a great number of other languages. Theses words from the English language come from arabic: algebra, caravan, cotton, giraffe, guitar, lemon, lilac & sugar!
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Arabic has no capital letters
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Arabic has sounds that don’t exist in other languages. For instance ‘ح’ is a ‘h’ sound that is only found in Arabic!
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The Arabic language is written from right to left.
Please have a look at some of our current pupils speaking in their home language in these videos below! We would like to add to this wonderful selection of videos. If you are a Gledhow parent and would like to contribute, please contact Miss King (Year 4).
Thank you!
EAL Intent
Gledhow Primary School
EAL statement of intent
Vision: Be Adventurous
Values: Responsibility, Resilence & Ambition
English as an Additional Language (EAL) refers to learners who have English as an additional language to their first language that they speak at home. At Gledhow we treat the diverse languages spoken at home as a source of enrichment to our school community. We aim to support individual children, from EYFS to Year 6, in developing their English language proficiency to ensure that they benefit from our ambitious curriculum, enabling them to enjoy their time in school and prepare them for their future.
We aim for our pupils at Gledhow to feel safe, happy and cared for. For pupils who are learning English as an additional language, this includes recognising and valuing their home language and background. As a school, we are aware that bilingualism can be a useful learning tool and that all EAL pupils can make a valuable contribution to our school community. At Gledhow we celebrate this through our ‘Language of the Half Term’. Children are ‘Language Ambassadors’ and are celebrated as the experts they are in their home language. They are involved in the teaching of key phrases and greetings. This celebrates the diversity of languages spoken as well as developing the child’s confidence and these pupils make a valuable contribution to the whole school community.
At Gledhow we aim for all EAL pupils to become fluent English speakers as quickly as possible. We use the Bell Foundation’s Assessment Tool to assess the children in their speaking, listening, reading and viewing and writing proficiency. We use this to support the pupils' next steps in learning and plan where additional support may be needed. EAL pupils can then attain the levels of achievement appropriate to their ability. This assessment tool is used regularly to check children’s progression and to update targets, enabling achievement our EAL learners.
For pupils who are new to school, and to speaking English, we have a rigorous system to welcome them to Gledhow. Children quickly feel safe, happy and ready to learn. In addition to using the Bell Foundation Assessment we ‘buddy up’ the pupils with a peer and where possible, can speak the same home language. Children are supported through a visual timetable to take part in the daily routines and structures, which helps them to develop, not only an understanding of the academic aspects of English, but the use of English in social interactions. Other visual supports and pre-taught new vocabulary and given the opportunity to revisit vocabulary to embed learning. Parents are supported by having information translated into their home language.
Throughout the school year we celebrate the diversity of our community and wider world. We ensure our curriculum is representative of our community and is diverse and inclusive.
Children will leave Gledhow, not only having substantial improvement in their English language proficiency, but also independent, confident and successful learners. They will have made a positive impact to our school community and be ready to continue their learning journeys having known success and enjoyment, ready to achieve more in their futures.