Shaftesbury Junior School
We care, we share, for the future we prepare
English as an Additional Language
English as an Additional Language (EAL)
At Shaftesbury, we are very proud of how many of our children can speak more than one language (2, 3 or sometimes even 4!) and of how many different languages are spoken at school. Quite a few of our pupils are either new to country or at the early stages of learning English. Although these children are below the expected standard in English, they make good progress whilst they are with us and we work very hard to ensure that this is the best possible progress.
We have two dedicated EAL leaders, Miss Bashir in Y3-4 and Mrs Chilton-Thomas in Y5-6, who support our EAL children in learning English.
When a pupil with EAL arrives at our school, they have an induction with an EAL leader and a full assessment to establish their English needs. This is passed onto their teacher and any additional support is arranged by the EAL leader.
Language of the Month (LotM)
Our children speak over 40 languages in school and we love to celebrate this diversity by learning a little of the language and culture of some of these. Our bi-lingual speakers help to promote this and love to show off their skills, as well as teach their friends some of their language.
Language of the Month is a weekly thinking skills lesson to share the languages of our school, to recognise the diversity of the world and give children the opportunity to widen their experiences.
February 2024 — International Mother Language Day-
International Mother Language Day is observed every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
Here at Shaftesbury, we attended school responding to the register in our own languages. During the day we greeted peers in our own languages and shared new vocabulary with our class.
This experience demonstrates our character values of acceptance, self- motivation and respect.
Current Language of the Month: Malayalam
Our new language of the month is
Malayalam
Here at Shaftesbury, we have 16 Malayalam speaking children.
Malayalam is spoken mainly in India, where it is the official language of the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep. It is also spoken by bilingual communities in contiguous parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the early 21st century, Malayalam was spoken by more than 35 million people.
The word Malayalam is a combination of 2 words – 'Mala' meaning 'mountain' and 'Alam' meaning 'region'. Thus the word literally means 'the mountain region'.
Malayalam is the only language that is a palindrome! (Spells the same regardless of whether you start from the right or left) Malayalam is the 8th most spoken language in India with over 35 million speakers.
It is estimated, 36,186 people speak Malayalam in the UK
(Census 2011).
March 2024 - LOCAL AUTHOR VISIT
Here at Shaftesbury Junior School, we were invited to discuss communities with children with EAL with a
local author, Sue Hobson. Year 5 and 6 children were interviewed about their experiences and challenges, arriving in a new country, without speaking the language. The children were positive and polite, showing character values and enthusiasm throughout. Thank you to all who contributed to the visit.
Black History Month (BHM) 2023
Here at Shaftesbury, we celebrate the diversity of all ethnic backgrounds.
The significance of BHM is to remember important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. Black history is world history. Black History Month represents Black influence around the world. Today, we not only celebrate the Black astronauts, scientists, inventors, artists, and activists of the past; we also celebrate the rise of Black business, arts, and literature that will influence the future.
This year, year 3 children are looking at Black musicians.
Year 4 pupils are researching Black sporting men and women and years 5 and 6 are looking at Windrush.
To support this, we have a guest speaker, who arrived from the Caribbean and has experienced many obstacles and positive events during his life here. The assembly will be a question and answer session to discuss and share experiences.
Indonesian Delegates
On Monday 24th October 2022, Indonesian Delegates arrived at our school to look at how children learn English. This included a tour of the school and interaction with lessons. During the visit, both staff and children were filmed and spoken to in Arabic about how they learn. The focus was on how English as an Additional Language (EAL) children learn and contribute to lessons at our school. After the tour, a question and answer session was held with EAL leads and senior management.
European Day of Languages
On 26th September, European Day of Languages was celebrated at Shaftesbury Junior School. We meet and greet each other in our own language, celebrate the linguistic diversity of our school and the community around us and have a assembly to promote our many languages spoken.
The Council of Europe and the European Union, jointly organised this day to encourage language learning across Europe.
International Conference
Although the UK is no longer in the European Union, at Shaftesbury we still believe keeping strong links with our European neighbours is important. To that end, some of our Y4 & Y6 pupils have been involved in presenting a workshop at a conference that hosts delegates from all over Europe. This year, the conference was held in Portugal. Unfortunately, we were not able to be there in person but we did present our workshop on peer learning using technology via Zoom. Our pupils did an amazing job on both the project and the workshop and made us incredibly proud.
The links below show some of the work that has been put into this project. With special thanks to Mrs Patel and Miss Morgan for all their hard work and support.
For more information on the international conference (Creative Approaches to Democracy Education), please click here: CANDIICE
Y4 & Y6 Presenters
Previous EAL events
Czech Republic visitors
During June 2017, we were visited by delegates from the Czech Republic to see how EAL (English as an Additional Language) is taught, along with the diversity, multiculturalism and language acquisition of the school. They were very impressed with children attending the school, who spoke twenty-seven different first languages and the provision given to them.
We were also very proud of our children who welcomed our visitors in their own languages and were observed and asked questions during the visit. Delegates were also shown around the school and observed a Year 5 class lesson along with attending a question and answer session and observing an EAL lesson by Mrs Chilton-Thomas.
A huge thank you to all children and staff for their support during this visit.
French TV visit
Thursday 6th April 2017, a Year 3 EAL group were filmed during a language development session with Mrs Chilton-Thomas. The children were their usual inquisitive selves, asking questions and supporting each other. We looked at foods from around the world, where different foods come from and discussed how they arrived in England.
We continued the lesson with children drawing, labelling and describing their favourite food from the countries their home countries.
Following on from the lesson, some children were asked questions about their religious beliefs and how they learn. Mrs Chilton-Thomas was filmed talking about teaching strategies, the beliefs of the group and how children integrate with children from other religions.
A huge thank you to all children and staff for their support during this visit.
Norwegian delegate visit
26 September 2016, Shaftesbury was visited by the Mayor of Drammen, Norway and his executive team along with a representative from the St. Philip’s Centre Ltd Leicester. The focus was on supporting children who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) and how this is integrated and monitored into everyday school life.
The delegates were shown a presentation and given assessment sheets and the NASSEA framework to demonstrate record keeping, this followed with them observing an EAL lesson with Mrs Chilton-Thomas, then a question and answer session followed about how the children learn.
A St. Philips Centre representative wrote- The whole programme seems to have been much appreciated and they were given much to think about on their return to Norway.
A huge thank you to all children and staff for their support during this visit.
One World Week
Here at Shaftesbury we have celebrated One World Week for many years. Countries are chosen to relate to our intake and activities are designed around this.
Children have had many opportunities to discuss their customs and cultures from around the world. Foods and sport activities are included as well as climate and diversity studies.
One World Week 2021
The theme was
WORKING TOGETHER FOR A JUST PEACEFUL AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD.
Across the school year groups worked on climate change including -
- COP 26
- Rainforests
- Polar Regions
- Oceans and plastic pollution
- Deserts
https://www.oneworldweek.org/
Our One World Week Celebrations
