English as an Additional Language

We are delighted that our school represents a rich cultural diversity, with children that speak many different languages as well as English.

At Riverbridge, we are committed to tailoring our provision of teaching for pupils with English as an Additional Language, to help raise their achievement to meet their targets. We identify individual pupil's needs and work hard to ensure all pupils are able to progress, regardless of their language or ability. 

Support at school

We have access to Surrey's Race Equality and Minority Achievement (REMA) team services where necessary, which focuses on supporting identified pupils. The type and extent of intervention is negotiated and agreed to reflect the specific requirements of our school and the learning needs of our pupils. The team also provides language assessments and advises our school on working with parents from minority ethnic/language communities, asylum seekers and refugees, and with bilingual pupils who also have Special Educational Needs. Direct teaching support may be provided to enhance bilingual learners’ English language acquisition and access to the curriculum.

How can you provide support at home?

• Understand that many children will go through a ‘silent’ period at some stage, sometimes for an extended period. Be patient during this time and continue to expect that they will respond.
• Children with the same first language should not be discouraged from sharing their language whilst playing. 
• Explore different ways to be exposed to the English language at home such as playing games and listening to English nursery rhymes and music. 
• Modelling language is important for introducing children to a new language, so try communicating in English, repeating phrases and words and giving lots of praise.
• Stories based on personal experience can be a powerful medium for supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development as well as their communicative and linguistic skills.

Useful link: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/   

This website is a great resource to help support children who are learning English. It is created by the British Council and there are lots of online games, songs, stories and activities to try. They also have some information for parents about supporting children to learn English and how to use English at home. 

If you or your child need help with any aspect of English as it is not your home language, please come and speak to us. The class teacher will be pleased to offer advice and can also refer to our EAL leader for further support if necessary.