News

  Following recent whole school training in Alicante and Murcia, Hounslow Language Service was invited to deliver 2 days of EAL training in Barcelona. Nicola Davies, the Assistant Head of the British School, hosted the course in partnership with a linked International School. The course targeted specific phase groups for some of the sessions which gave opportunities for staff to consider strategies to improve support for EAL in the classrooms. A session for TAs was followed by ‘Developing talk in Early Years’ with a final session on ‘Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum’. The second day included ‘Strategies for…

We really enjoyed our day at the NALDIC conference. The keynote address by Li Wei was about Translanguaging  and Multicompetence  and ways to apply this to practical strategies to support EAL learners was explored. The learn 100 words in 10 mins workshop was fun! We looked at how there are many similarities between different languages and how we can use these connections to promote the development of English and the EAL learners mother tongue. We had a very interesting discussion about what the ‘E’ is in ‘EAL’with Tracey Costley form Essex University.  We talked about which Englishthe 'E' refers to…

We are really looking forward to attending the NALDIC Conference!  Educating Multilingual Learners In The 21st Century: The Next 25 Years Manny Vazquez (HLS)  will be delivering a workshop on: GCSE English language & literature: New challenges and ways forward   The revised GCSEs in English have raised the bar in terms of expectations. The original exemplar materials sent out prior to this summer’s exams suggested that EAL learners might find the exams to be particularly demanding. There is now an even greater need to ensure that in English lessons we are drilling down to the actual language the students need…

  Tuesday 31st January   saw the launch of Phase 2 of our National Project ‘EAL in the Mainstream Classroom’ in partnership with Challenge Partners and Lampton school. This 2 year Project focuses on improving the academic language of EAL pupils and on supporting classroom teachers. The aim is to share practical ideas and resources that benefit not only EAL pupils but also the whole class.  The EAL Project is being funded by the Education Endowment Foundation, the Bell Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy. Although the target curriculum on the course is History and Science, Phase 1 participants reported that the materials…

The first Teachers to take part in the pilot EAL in the Mainstream Classroom project  met in Swindon yesterday. Manny Vazquez and Andy Harvey from Hounslow Language Service delivered  day 1 of the 3 day course. Sarah and Ron who are leading the Delivery Centre for the Swindon Teaching School Alliance were joined by colleagues Carol and Zarah from Ninestiles School in Birmingham and a group of teachers from the local area.  Once the pilot is completed, both Ninestiles and Swindon will be offering the programme more widely to their local schools. For more information contact  Rehana Ahmed at Hounslow…

  Following the successful GLA EAL Project in London,  Hounslow Language Service  now have a new Project with Challenge Partners and Lampton School. We have gained funding by EEF (Education Endowment Fund) for a 2 year Programme to support school led improvement through high quality teacher training. This programme aims to support EAL pupils in the mainstream classroom. It is designed to build expertise and capacity among classroom teachers so they can provide the best teaching and learning for EAL pupils, so reducing the need for specialist support. Classroom teachers will be provided with training in how to plan lessons…