if you have any tried and tested strategies that work with new EAL pupils please share them here

thanks

I have a fan I made with drawings and words in Polish for immediate use.

I will have to find out more about it, but in my E111 studies there was some mention of computer programmes which provide both the native language and English so child can listen and link the words.

Labels with both languages always work well too; sounds simple but if you keep reinforcing the word with concrete objects it makes it easier to learn i.e. table, chair, door, toilet etc etc

I made a table top list in Polish for a year 4 boy so he could make his needs known. Things like I don't understand, I need a pencil, rubber, toilet, numbers colours etc, and a visual timetable so he knew what was happening. He was able to point to the phrase if he couldn't make himself understood. I also used wigit symbols to translate the key texts in English so he could follow what was going on - we were doing traditional tales at the time so it was quite easy to do the key points and characters.

I find it easier with older children who are able to read in their own language.

If the pupils are ks2 and can read a dictionary English/Polish is a godsend.

I found it really useful when I am only in their class one afternoon a week and need to explain certain Pshe terms/language/

For instance when looking at different emotions, I prepared a visual picture with the English word [sad] We then looked it up in their dictionaries and they wrote the Polish word next to it just to help them keep up with the language going on in class.

One of the first things we do with our EAL children is take them around the school daily naming objects. 'This is a' window, lunchbox, library, office, Mrs Smith or anything in displays etc. The next stage is to say this is a ... and get the children to supply the noun, name etc. Then get the children to give the complete sentence. I then start to talk about the objects so imroving their vocab and sentence construction.

This activity takes about 15 minutes each morning and works best in a small group. I also ask the children what the object is in their language and try to remember which tends to give them the confidence to try and not to be worried if they get it wrong, as I am really bad at languages. Most children enjoy this even if it is repetitive and gives me the opportunity to build a relationship with them.

We have several Polish children at school and I work with 2 of them in the reception class. They are becoming pretty fluent, we tend to use simple instructions, point to objects and say the name, make sure we have thier attention etc. To begin with the T.A took them out for a session everyday with the sound pots, small tubs containing objects that begin with the same letter, I think this was a big help with the general literacy understanding. We also have a Polish 101 of everyday polish words so we can refer to them, e.g. god morning, yes, thank you etc. There are also a couple of Polish/English picture dictionaries which are a big help to us, its horrible when they are trying to tell us something and we don't understand! In numeracy it seems to be a little easier because they hve beeen learning the new skills same as thier peers, numbers by rote, counting etc and they were very quick but introducing new concepts is tricky.