Getting ready for next week's Polish, Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Chinese and Russian oral GCSE/A level exams. Gerald the giraffe has proven very useful: he does not rustle paper, jingle bracelets or make noise when squeezed by (some) anxious teenagers whilst being recorded #EAL

Talking with a colleague about a new student. They’ve been told the correct pronunciation of the student’s name and I’m using it. They continue to use a v different pronunciation they find easier. I’m left weighed down by what entrenched attitudes we have to continually challenge

Reading this important thread, this shocking quote stopped me in my tracks

Finally got my hands on a copy of ‘A is for Bee’ by Ellen Heck. I knew I would love it! Will be such a good resource to share with children to explore languages, especially with the audio levinequerido.com/aisforbee Levine Querido

Reminded this week that if we find a way at school events to engage families in real conversations about their languages and language practices - show interest, ask questions, learn - it will be valuable time spent and it will be joyful.

This anecdote is so important when we consider phonics teaching and #EAL

We should both collect #EAL proficiency data in England AND invest in doing that collection properly. The brief period in which it was collected nationally was characterised by an absence of central guidance, moderation or quality assurance.

“You’re getting smarter” said a well meaning teacher of a 11 yr old EAL pupil, referring to her progress in learning English. I winced at the word choice. “She’s smart already”, I said in the pupil’s defence, “She speaks 2 languages, for example”. “3” corrected the pupil. 🙌

🧵Lots to digest from the English & Media Ctr BAAL: British Association for Applied Linguistics symposium on Challenging Linguistic Discrimination. Dr Khawla Badwan delivered a fab keynote w/loads of important ideas about language, literacy & literacy monsters, arguing for a 'plurilithic' not 'monolithic' view of literacy. 1.

The 2023 Schools Census data is now available. It tells us that the both the number and the proportion of EAL pupils are continuing to rise. PLS EAL Dep. 💐🙋🏻‍♀️💙👩🏻‍🏫 Robert Sharples EAL teacher @BetterBilingual Frank Monaghan Norwich Fran 💚💛

One of the most powerful analogies by Pauline Gibbons explaining why content and language teaching in our classrooms needs to happen simultaneously. #multilingual #EAL #MLs

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate, value and enjoy those languages, but a sense of loss has definitely been my companion for as long as I can remember. Prob why I advocate so much both professionally & personally for children not losing their linguistic & cultural heritages. (2/3)

#EAL pupil labelled ‘lazy’ by a teacher without considering the challenges the child faces, which are considerable 😔 I want to say it’s ‘lazy’ not to seek answers as to what’s going on… But I stop and reflect on what’s gone wrong here, because that all needs addressing!

Robert Jenrick: taking action on the people’s priorities, which apparently now includes making children feel less safe & welcome. I can barely find words to express how despicable this is & Robert Jenrick should be made to answer for it. This craven villainy represents no one.

My new post on #EAL Learning Postcards: "Is this normal? -encouraging #ParentalEngagement" eal.pjb.co.uk/index.php/blog/ Thank you J Mosley for the original Learning Postcard idea.

If news orgs wanted to, they could fire up the live blog. They could give minute-by-minute updates. They could fill the time with interviews from naval and coast guard experts. We could learn about the human stories of the people on this boat. We could be made to empathise.

‘knows more English than they let on’ - on a transition note about a pupil who arrived in the country new to English a few months ago. I find the attitude concerning - am determined to make sure that child will be surrounded by empathetic adults and all the support they need.

Do you want to find out about primary schools with fantastic EAL practice? Watch the short videos at theealacademy.co.uk/eal-in-primary…. EqualiTeach Oxfordshire EAL EAL Service, Glasgow EAL teacher