This will be my first relevant entry for teaching practice and for uni - it should keep my brain organised and if it helps anyone else then there you go.

Ok so this year I'm in Hafod Primary School. This school is going to be different than my other two as this school has a high percentage of EAL children (which I haven't encountered before) so fingers crossed that I am able to adapt to this difference and work well in this school.

After the brilliant lectures by Mr Andrews I feel a higher confidence going into this school. Hopefully in this post I'll include some points that I've learnt from lectures and other reading that will help with understanding about these pupils in schools.

Some of the following information was obtained from lectures by Mr Andrews and from Achievement for All - Working with Children with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools and Colleges, (2002) The Association of Teachers and Lecturers, The Education Union, London - I found this book really helpful in finding information about SEN as well as EAL.

Quoting the 2002 Code of Practice, 'the identification and assessment of the special educational needs of children whose first language is not English requires particular care. Lack of competence in English must not be automatically equated with learning difficulties.'

The most widely spoken languages for EAL children are:
- Seleti
- Arabic
- Talagog
- Polish
- Malayalam
- Cantonese
- Urdu
- Mandarin
- Turkish
- Punjabi

The problem that is most occurring with EAL children is that it doesn't properly reference the abilities of the pupils who are bilingual. Bilingualism has been defined in these three different ways.

Balanced Bilinguals - Pupils who are able to work through school well in two or more languages. In most cases bilingual pupils do not fit this group.

Dominant or incipient bilinguals - Pupils who may have the beginnings of a second language. This fits most of the children in Britain.

Semilinguals - Pupils who haven't developed in any language which prevents them from working successfully through school.

Some strategies that have been considered successful in supporting bilingual pupils are:
- Make sure that assessments are carries out to ensure that their ability is properly determined.
- Don't assume that pupils efficiency in some areas of classroom life with stretch to all areas of the curriculum.
- Enable pupils to a rich, balanced curriculum which allows opportunities for EAL pupils to excel in.
- Use assessments that are fair to pupils cultures and involve these in day-to-day school life.
- Involve parents and family members in pupils learning.
- Use a wide range of language books which allows parent involvement in skills such as reading and writing.

These are only some of the possible learning aids and there are many more that can be accessed in the classroom. One of my aims for teaching practice is to develop some of these and attain a greater understanding of how to successfully enhance EAL pupils learning. Then I'll be able to add additional strategies to my list and through other teaching practices.