DfE spells out its EAL policy

For the first time in many years, the DfE has made its policy on EAL teaching and learning explicit. In a recent policy summary statement Angela Overington of the DfE has endorsed:mainstreaming; local flexibility led by schools; meaningful assessment; promoting community cohesion; and English as the medium of instruction. The aim of the policy is 'to promote rapid language acquisition and include them (children learning EAL) in mainstream education as quickly as possible'.

The recent (15.02.12) brief policy summary contained the following points:

• Local Authorities have a legal duty to ensure that education is available for all children of compulsory school age that is appropriate to their age, ability, aptitudes and any special educational needs they may have. This duty applies irrespective of a child's immigration status, country of origin or rights of residence in a particular area.
• The Coalition Government's priority for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) is to promote rapid language acquisition and include them in mainstream education as quickly as possible
• A key principle underpinning the guidance is that all newly-arrived bilingual learners have a right of access to the National Curriculum, and that provision for newly arrived EAL learners is not separate but integrated into all subject areas.
• Learners of EAL make the best progress within a whole-school context where pupils are educated with their peers.
• Provision needs to be based on a meaningful assessment of pupils' prior knowledge and experience as well as language skills.
• Pupils learning EAL are generally taught in the mainstream class alongside their peers. Newly arrived pupils are usually given additional help in learning English by specialist teachers or by bilingual classroom assistants. At both primary and secondary level, EAL teachers or advisers work in collaboration with classroom teachers to plan lessons and teaching materials. Classroom teachers have responsibility for ensuring that pupils can participate in lessons. Where appropriate, schools may also set up small group withdrawal classes to provide more focused support.
• The government believes schools will lead the way in driving up the attainment of their underperforming groups and Ofsted will support this through a particular emphasis on how well gaps are narrowing between the performance of different groups of pupils in the school and compared to pupils nationally.
• The government is freeing schools to develop local solutions to local issues as there is no single 'silver bullet' intervention that achieves the best possible results for every child.
• Bilingualism confers intellectual advantages - once children have developed cognitive and academic language, they can transfer much of this learning to additional languages. Children benefit enormously if they are given opportunities to continue to develop their first language alongside English.
• Publicly-funded schools remain under a statutory duty to promote community cohesion. It is for schools themselves to decide how to fulfil this duty in the light of their local circumstances.
• The duty on the governing bodies of maintained schools to promote community cohesion was introduced in the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and came into effect in September 2007. A comparable duty is placed on Academies, including Free Schools, through their funding agreements.
• The Government recognises the benefits that derive from the maintenance of ethnic minority linguistic and cultural traditions, but believes the main responsibility for maintaining mother tongue rests with the ethnic minority community themselves. 'We believe that English should be the medium of instruction in schools'.
• The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant has been mainstreamed, giving schools greater freedom over how the grant is spent and allowing them to respond more flexibly to local needs. Where Schools Forums wish it, some or all of the money may be retained at Local Authority level to provide centralised support for EAL and Black and Minority Ethnic achievement. This funding will continue into 2012-13.
• The department is awaiting the outcome of the October 2011 school funding consultation before determining future funding arrangements
• The Government has remitted TDA to set up a network of Initial Teacher Training Institutions and to work with them on enhancing their EAL curriculum for trainee teachers and to build better relationships between ITT providers and local schools which have significant EAL needs.
• Learners of EAL have, on average, lower levels of attainment than pupils whose first language is English.
• Main languages reported, other than English, include: Punjabi (1.7 per cent); Urdu (1.6 per cent); Bengali (1.3 per cent); Polish (0.7 per cent); Gujarati (0.6 per cent); Somali (0.7 per cent) and Arabic (0.5 per cent). For 0.2 per cent of pupils, no language was specified. (School Census January 2011)

NALDIC is disappointed that at a time when the government is championing local flexibility, they have already set their faces firmly against bilingual education which in other English speaking countries has been proven to be the most effective educational programme for the long term success of bilingual pupils. Perhaps not a silver bullet but certainly somewhat shinier than other programmes.