The latest edition of the EAL Journal was put together in challenging circumstances. Regrettably, in the upheaval and delay, we published advertisements from our friends at the EAL Academy and Hounslow Language Service that were incorrect and out of date. Reacting swiftly to the rapidly changing circumstances, these organisations had pulled out all the stops to transfer their usual in-person training online, ensuring that important EAL CPD could continue. We missed this, and apologise to both organisations for the confusion caused. We are happy to publish corrections here. Today’s post is from the EAL Academy. It will be followed later in the week by a post from Hounslow Language Services.
In these unprecedented times we have received many enquiries about how EAL practitioners can support their EAL pupils both now and on their eventual return to the classroom. As a result of the UK school closures in March, we cancelled our delegate courses for this academic year and concentrated on the short term support we could provide, such as expanding the free resources section of our website and offering free consultations over the ever growing range of video conferencing platforms.
With no clear picture of when ‘normality’ will resume, we are now focusing on the longer term EAL CPD and consultancy support we can provide remotely, both for individuals and for schools.
Supporting schools at a distance
We continue to provide consultancy support to schools both in the UK and abroad. While there is no substitute for physically walking the corridors and experiencing a class in full swing, much can still be done remotely. For example, you could review your current provision for new arrivals using the one page guide to strategies for different types of new arrival on the free resources section of our website.
Enabling individual and group study in a flexible format
All of our online courses are fully tutored by experienced online trainers and provide access to up to date content and a real-life peer group, interacting at a time that suits you via our online forum. Our tutors can be available for one-to-one video tutorials to provide additional support and we can also design bespoke online packages for school groups. We offer two main formats:
Six-month online EAL course accredited by University of Greenwich -a part time course requiring approximately 100 hours of study with new cohorts starting in June and July 2020. Find out more here. Stand-alone units on specific topics -single units each requiring up to 12 hours of study which can be completed at any time. We are currently adding new units every week so check our website for what’s available.
“The online course improved my own knowledge of key issues in the achievement of pupils learning English as an additional language. It enabled my school to consider the different ways in which we plan for beginner and advanced EAL pupils and how we identify any special educational needs. As a school we are now much more aware of factors that may affect the emotional and social side of a newly arrived pupil and their families. We have put strategies in place to support our pupils which we have found highly beneficial. We have also developed our own structured approach to assessing pupils learning English as an additional language with clear targets and next steps.”
Lynsey Irish, Teacher at Eastover Primary School, UK
If you would like to arrange a free 30 minute consultation call us on +44 (0)20 3488 2700 or email rebecca@theealacademy.co.uk. You can also find us on Twitter @EALACADEMY and on Facebook.
EALJournal.org is a publication of NALDIC, the subject association for EAL. Visit www.naldic.org.uk to become a member.
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