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  4. English as an Additional Language Service (EALS)

English as an Additional Language Service (EALS)

1. What is EALS?

EALS provides support to primary and secondary school pupils (KS1 – KS4) whose first or home language is not English and where this poses a barrier to their education and makes them vulnerable to underachievement. The support is provided to pupils by EAL teachers and Bilingual Support Officers (BSOs) in the mainstream school settings helping them to improve their English and to achieve their full potential.

EALS do not support pre-school and Reception children in mainstream schools - these children would be supported the Early Years Service.

2. What we offer

From specialist EAL teachers
• Direct teaching intervention for pupils: 1:1, small groups, in-class
• Advice on EAL strategies, joint planning and provision of EAL-friendly resources
• Management of candidates for Mother Tongue GCSEs


From Bilingual Support Officers (BSOs)
• In-class support from a Bilingual Support Officer who speaks the pupil’s home language
• Support with home-school liaison: over the telephone and face-to-face
• Quality translation and interpreting to all schools and other council services
• Mother Tongue Assessments
Languages available: Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Arabic (Syrian), Bengali, Bulgarian, Turkish, Hungarian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Romanian, Spanish, Lithuanian


Training
• A wide range of training courses for school staff involved in teaching and supporting EAL children. 

3. How to access support

Maintained schools - please refer pupils through the Front Door.

Academies - please refer pupils using the EALS Academy referral form, which can be send directly to EALS by email or courier.


All maintained schools are eligible for EALS support. The core allocation of support (known as 'Green units') is based on the number of EAL pupils on roll who have been in the country for less than 3 years.
When schools’ Green units run out, we top up from our 'Red units', allocating support to the pupils and schools who need the support most. Billingual Support Officer support is allocated from Red units.

Support is prioritised for pupils:

Academies need to buy EALS units in order to access EALS support, both from teachers and Bilingual Support Officers.
Contact us on EALS@eastsussex.gov.uk to find out how many units you’ll need to buy for the input you require.

4. Useful resources

Read our 20 Top Tips for schools with EAL pupils, which covers Induction and welcome for new arrivals, Moving on and EAL-friendly strategies.

There is a large amount of free online resources available to help your school support pupils whose first language is not English:

Teaching resources - all languages

EAL Nexus  - lots of free curriculum-related resources, Great ideas, advice pages and other information about EAL.

Collaborative Learning project – a range of free games and other activities covering all areas of the curriculum.

Learn English Kids and Learn English Teens - free resources including quizzes, games, grammar and lesson plans produced by the British Council.

MantraLingua – a good selection of dual-language resources.

Twinkl – has some good resources for beginners, including some dual-language resources.

Times Educational Supplement - resources covering early years, primary, secondary, whole school and special educational needs.