The term ‘English as Additional Language’ (EAL) refers to students whose main language at home is a language other than English. 20 languages are spoken at home among our pupils, who come from different ethnic backgrounds. Languages spoken by our students, as well as members of staff, include: 

1. Polish 

2. Malayalam 

3. Lithuanian 

4. Portuguese 

5. Italian 

6. Romanian 

7. Filipino 

8. Hungarian 

9. Russian 

10. Tamil 

11. Ukrainian 

12. Spanish 

13. Latvian 

14. Arabic 

15. Sinhala 

16. Yoruba 

17. Panjabi 

18. Vietnamese 

19. Tulu 

20. Hindi 

At St Mary's RC High School, we celebrate diversity and create a culture of inclusion and acceptance among students and the greater school community. We aim to create a multilingual school environment and recognise multilingualism as an asset to our school. The EAL department works closely with students and teachers to enable students with EAL to become confident, and to acquire the language skills needed to access the curriculum. 

We want all EAL pupils: 

• To feel welcome and supported by the EAL department and the school. 

• To be included in the mainstream classrooms. 

• To be involved in all school activities. 

• To be increasingly confident, competent and independent. 

 

EAL Department contact details 

The EAL department is run by Mrs Hicks, the EAL Co-ordinator. 

E-mail: ahicks@st-maryshigh.hereford.sch.uk 

Telephone: 01432 850416 

 

Our Catholic ethos 

St Mary’s is a Catholic community rooted in gospel values. We are here to educate the children and develop their understanding and love of the Catholic faith.  

It is equally important that provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development should promote tolerance of and respect for people of other faiths, cultures and lifestyles. Our school values guide pupils to become: 

• Grateful for their own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with their gifts, becoming men and women for others. 

• Attentive to their experience and to their vocation; and discerning about the choices they make and the effects of those choices. 

• Compassionate towards others, near and far, especially the less fortunate; and loving by their just actions and forgiving words. 

• Faith-filled in their beliefs and hopeful for the future. 

• Eloquent and truthful in what they say of themselves, the relations between people, and the world. 

• Learned, finding God in all things; and wise in the ways they use their learning for the common good. 

• Curious about everything; and active in their engagement with the world, changing what they can for the better. 

• Intentional in the way they live and use the resources of the earth, guided by conscience; and prophetic in the example they set to others. 

 

Support within the EAL Department 

The aim of the EAL Department is to improve educational outcomes of children who use English as an additional language. Support is offered at a range of levels, and individual needs are considered. Depending on their level of English, the EAL Co-ordinator will provide pupils with interventions, which may include: 

Classroom support for newly arrived students whose English language skills are at Band A: New to English and Band B: Early Acquisition stage. The EAL Co-ordinator will join pupils in lessons once or twice a week to gauge their subject understanding and observe the challenges and barriers that EAL learners face in mainstream classrooms. The EAL Co-ordinator will promote the inclusion and acceptance of all EAL pupils within the classroom environment. 

Flash Academy online learning programme interventions for proficiency levels A, B and C: Developing Competence. The Flash Academy platform helps to develop English language skills through the integration of listening, speaking, writing, and reading in a way that is engaging and enjoyable to increase learners’ motivation. The programme delivers curriculum-aligned content which can be accessed at school or remotely on all devices including smartphones. 

Individual or small group sessions to develop fluency in reading, writing and speaking. Targeted interventions enable the EAL Co-ordinator to respond to pupil’s individual needs and provide feedback in relation to progress and achievement. 

Assessment and progress tracking. Flash Academy enables assessments of EAL learners to establish their level of English language skills. It uses simple grading in assessing student’s speaking, writing, reading and listening skills. Students' English language proficiency is graded as follows: 

Band A: New To English, Band B: Early Acquisition, Band C: Developing Competence, Band D: Competent, Band E: Fluent. 

EAL Co-ordinator monitors students’ progress and reviews their needs with subject teachers. 

 

EAL Policy 

The EAL policy outlines the school’s objectives and procedures to ensure all students with EAL are given the best chance possible to reach their full potential. 

 

Safeguarding 

 

All children have the right to education and to fulfil their potential in a safe learning environment. We strive to create a culture based on our core values of respect, honesty and kindness. Students must feel safe and respected if they are to learn effectively.  

At St Mary’s all staff are trained to recognise when a child may be at risk of harm. We also take great care in educating children to recognise when they are a victim of bullying or any form of abuse and harassment. We have created a student friendly Peer-on-peer abuse policy which provides students with useful information on signs of abuse and how to report it.  

Our Anti-bullying policy provides school staff and parents/carers with information about signs of bullying and what they should do when they have been told about bullying.  

The school’s Child protection and Safeguarding policy outlines roles within the school and responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of children. 

Our dedicated Pastoral Care Team offers our students guidance and support which focuses on their social and emotional needs. The Pastoral Manager at our school is Mrs Peake, tpeake@st-maryshigh.hereford.sch.uk.

Please do not hesitate to contact any member of our staff should you have any concerns about your child and their wellbeing. 

 

Useful information for parents/carers of EAL learners