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Manny Vazquez was recently invited to contribute to the Ninestiles Academy Trust Conference in Birmingham. His workshop aimed to equip teachers with the supportive strategies needed to raise the achievement of advanced EAL students. In an interactive session, participants studied samples of pupils writing and tried out activities to support improvement back in the classroom. They looked at a case study of an EAL student over the academic year, discussing how to assess their progress and develop their language. Manny focussed on the DfE codes and how to apply them to EAL students. Ninestiles were pleased that Manny’s work raised…

CLIL equates to teaching the curriculum through English and has become very popular in European schools. HLS has had recent experience of delivering training for CLIL, for Spanish teachers and in the UK for a range of European teachers. Ten schools in Italy invited HLS to run a video training session for their English and Maths staff. Andy Harvey from Hounslow Language Service was  able to introduce the underlying principles of CLIL which include both content and language skills teaching. Our Italian colleagues gained a lot from this session and are hoping to book some follow up training with us…

In January, the Elliot Foundation held a Conference at Ramnoth Junior School in Wisbech on the Topic of ‘Getting Reading Right’. Andy Harvey, from Hounslow Language Service , provided workshops which focused on ‘Developing Reading for EAL Beginners’. He introduced the importance of recognising that both background knowledge and an understanding of the language system are key to getting meaning from texts. He stressed the need to provide a rich contextual background, building on previous knowledge, using visuals, artifacts, displays and previous vocabulary. Participants were enthused by the range of practical activities and ideas and the very useful HLS Model…

Andy Harvey from Hounslow Language Service, was invited by HereTeach to provide EAL training for new teachers in Herefordshire. In fact, the 42 staff attending included several experienced teachers who valued the opportunity to focus on EAL.  In this session, teachers gained knowledge about the needs of Beginner EAL pupils and also how to extend the language skills of more Advanced EAL learners. Teachers commented on the many useful teaching activities and resources which they were going to use in class. They appreciated the practical focus of the day and commented on how helpful many of the differentiation ideas would…

At Saturday’s Conference, at Kings College London, Manny gave a lively and entertaining keynote presentation about how to use EAL assessment effectively. He gave an example of assessing an EAL Beginner and putting together a step by step programme of teaching to support that student in achieving full linguistic competency. This case study illustrated all the challenges of linking local EAL fluency stages to national and international measures such as CEFR new standards as well as new GCSE bands and IELTS. As always, Manny was informative and practical, linking EAL assessment to on-going EAL classroom teaching. We are glad to…