We are a team of school improvement specialists, consultants and leaders in the fields of academic literacy, English as an additional language and ethnic minority achievement.
What is the best boys’ school in England?
Many people will tell you that it must be somewhere like St Paul’s or Eton with their extraordinary Oxbridge success rates, but how many of these boys’ parents are Oxbridge...
- Graham Smith
- 5th March 2019
The performance of EAL pupils at GCSE in 2018: the headlines
The national GCSE data (it is the 2018 data despite the DfE’s mistake on the page heading) and individual secondary school outcomes, including the performance of EAL pupils, were released...
- Graham Smith
- 21st February 2019
A Gold EAL Quality Mark for Sydenham Primary School in Leamington Spa
The school has a very thorough approach to policies and practice, ensuring that the whole school staff and parents are aware of good practice for EAL. Staff are able to...
- Graham Smith
- 11th January 2019
The performance of EAL pupils at Key Stage 2 in 2018: the headlines
The national Key Stage 2 data released in December have much to tell us about the performance of EAL pupils across England and the expectations we might have for our...
- Graham Smith
- 9th January 2019
English GCSE in FE Colleges
Young people who have failed their English GCSE at school now have to try it again at the age of 17 and, if that doesn’t work, at the age of 18. It...
- Graham Smith
- 8th November 2018
A confession about proficiency scales
I have a confession to make. When many in the EAL world were trying to persuade the DfE to introduce a the national EAL assessment system we know now as...
- Graham Smith
- 13th October 2018
Giving school governors time to talk
Over the last twelve months I have found myself asked to do more and more governor training. Having first been a governor (and Chair of Governors) in 1986, I have...
- Graham Smith
- 1st August 2018
Improving the delivery of VET mobility programmes in the EU – Erasmus
In June we met with our Erasmus+ Interculturality-Mobility project partners in Nicosia, Cyprus, for the programme’s final conference and partnership meeting. Further information on the event can be found in the...
- Rebecca Smith
- 26th July 2018
First special school to win Gold Award for the EAL Quality Mark
When I visited The Phoenix School in Peterborough in June, it was just over a year on from its being awarded the Silver EAL Quality Mark. During that visit our...
- Graham Smith
- 23rd July 2018