Since 2011 the percentage of EAL pupils at St George’s Catholic school in Taunton has risen  from 22% to 70%. That is a big challenge to which the school has responded extremely well.

Being a new arrival from Kerala or Poland starting school in Somerset can be a big challenge for both parents and pupils. However, having Malayalam and Polish speaking priests at the local church has proved very helpful and new pupils have sometimes met some of their peers through the church before they start at the school. The school also works hard to address cultural issues, ensuring, for example, that parents do not get a big shock on November 5^th because they have been told what happens and why. EAL pupils were keen to tell me how supported they feel by their picture timetables and knowledge organisers. They also appreciate the range books in their languages in the school library- no mean feat with the budget of a one form entry school. In addition, they can answer the register in their own languages.  Pupils are encouraged to demonstrate their understanding in a wide range of ways. They can use story sacks to retell complex stories wordlessly. Widgets tell pupils the skills they are practicing.

I confess that at the end of my visit to St George’s Catholic school in Taunton I said something a bit cheeky, though in the context of being very impressed by the consistency and EAL friendliness of all teaching I saw. What I saw in every classroom was the same ideal pattern for organising the learning of EAL pupils: key visuals followed by structured pair or small group talk that enables pupils to go on to produce very good writing. You could, I said, call that the holy trinity of EAL pupils’ learning. Fortunately, the staff took it as the compliment I intended.