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.
The EAL/SEND course
Course tutor Marc Thompson describes how the course has developed over recent years The course began as a consolidation of our team’s experiences and knowledge gained from supporting schools, training teachers and...
- Graham Smith
- 13th October 2020
A Guest Blog: Primary School Bilingual Clubs at Thomas Deacon Education Trust
Gladstone Primary Academy, in central, multiilingual Peterborough, despite the disruptive impact of Covid-19, is excited to announce the re-opening of their newly-establish bilingual clubs, catering for Y2 pupils, in Urdu,...
- Graham Smith
- 28th September 2020
The EAL Academy Newsletter – June 2020
As schools reopen in an uncertain world, we continue our current offer to schools of free 30 minute conversations via Zoom, Skype, Messenger or phone to provide support in this area. If you would like the opportunity to discuss the...
- Graham Smith
- 19th June 2020
The EAL Proficiency Scales: gone but not forgotten (Part 2)
Following on from part 1 of my blog about The Department for Education’s useful analysis of its short lived English as an additional language proficiency scales, part 2 looks at what the report tells...
- Graham Smith
- 13th June 2020
Why touching things and being physically close to other learners is important
When I was Head of EAL in an East London secondary school I found myself teaching with the Head of Science. It is fair to say that he was old...
- Graham Smith
- 28th May 2020
Newsletter 3 – Summer Term 2020
In these unprecedented times we feel it is important to reach out to our subscribers and offer all the support we can. We have had a number of enquiries about how...
- Graham Smith
- 22nd May 2020
The EAL Proficiency Scales: gone but not forgotten (Part 1)
The Department for Education has now published a useful analysis of its short lived English as an additional language proficiency scales. It tells us much of what we already knew:...
- Graham Smith
- 21st April 2020
Acquiring language through immersion (Russian lessons, a Twinings warehouse and endless Midsomer Murders)
When I was fourteen years old, I started to learn Russian. For the first seven weeks, I spent four hours a week in a classroom with five other pupils and...
- Graham Smith
- 7th April 2020
Gold EAL Quality Mark for Cauldwell School in Bedford
EAL learners comprise more than 70% of Cauldwell School’s roll. Over the last 15 years, the headteacher, Judith Apps, has seen its pupil profile change. “We have always had pupils...
- Graham Smith
- 27th March 2020