‘Since the dawn of man there has been a desire to communicate language through imagery, actions, music and words. Learning vocabulary and languages is not only learning different words for the same things but learning another way to think about things and viewing life from a different perspective.’ (Sims, 2019)
At Bluecoat Primary Academy we celebrate culture and linguistic diversity, seeing this as a step on the ladder to success.
It is our mission to spark the passion for learning English. To immerse our pupils into an engaging, English enriched environment throughout the curriculum; to inspire our pupil’s to be all they can be.
A Bluecoat Primary Academy at bilingual child will:
✔ Reflect the linguistic and cultural characters of their community.
✔ Embrace and share their culture and language.
✔ Overcome their language barrier through being resilient and intrigued by the English world around them.
✔ Take ownership of their ‘learning English journey’ in order to grow and blossom linguistically.
✔ Be able to communicate fluently with cohesion.
✔ Be able to identify errors in their speech and understanding, and use them as a learning opportunity.
✔ Practise and apply their English skills at home encouraging family engagement and learning.
✔ Push their limits and be resilient no matter how challenging the linguistic skill is.
EAL Intent
For all of our bilingual children to be performing alongside their native speaking peers by the time they reach Year 6. However, English is a complex language that our children need to learn quickly in order to diminish their language barrier and become an independent learner. Our children need to be taught, and modelled too, of how to use their environments to succeed, not just academically but for personal development as well. We need to immerse our children into English enriched environments where their linguistic skills can flourish; allowing them to push their limits by being unusually brave to discover what is possible.
We are proud to have literacy enriched environments that support our EAL children learning survival, social, functional and academic language. These skills are learnt through quality first teaching and personalised learning through a wide range of real-life and engaging activities.
How we support communication and language development
FlashAcademy
At Bluecoat Primary Academy, we use FlashAcademy to support our EAL learners in developing English vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
FlashAcademy allows pupils to:
- learn through visual and interactive activities
- access vocabulary linked to classroom learning
- develop confidence independently
- translate key words and concepts into their home language
- practise both social and academic English
Staff use FlashAcademy to monitor progress and tailor support to pupils’ individual language needs.
Home to School Communication
We value strong partnerships with families and recognise the importance of accessible communication for all parents and carers.
Through ClassDojo and Seesaw, families are able to:
- translate messages into their home language
- access updates and learning instantly
- communicate easily with staff
- celebrate their child’s achievements
- engage more confidently with school life
These platforms help us ensure all families feel included, informed and connected within our school community.
Oracy and talk-rich environments (Voice 21)
We actively promote talk-rich learning environments, recognising that spoken language is key to both cognitive development and academic success, particularly for EAL learners.
Through our oracy approach, pupils:
- engage in structured talk activities (partner talk, group discussion, debate)
- use sentence stems and scaffolds to develop academic language
- practise vocabulary in meaningful contexts
- build confidence in speaking and listening
- learn to articulate ideas clearly and respectfully
This work is supported by Voice 21 principles, ensuring talk is planned, purposeful and embedded across lessons.
Learn more about oracy:
As part of our EAL provision, we are committed to:
- embedding talk-rich teaching (Voice 21)
- supporting academic language development
- using effective assessment and tracking
- ensuring all pupils can access the curriculum
- building strong partnerships with families
At Bluecoat Primary Academy, we are proud to be a school where every child’s voice is valued, every language is respected, and every learner is supported to succeed.
Supporting your child at home
Here are some useful websites with awesome free resources:
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/english-as-an-additional-language-eal
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
http://www.literacycenter.net/
http://literactive.com/Home/index.asp
https://www.highlightskids.com/
https://www.worldoflanguages.co.uk/
Don’t forget to check out our The BPA Way: English as an Additional Language Framework. which contains further details regarding our approach to supporting EAL Learners within our school.
Click on the image below to be taken to our The BPA Way: Quality of Education page. Here, you will find our The BPA Way: English as an Additional Language Framework
