New partnership between the British Council, The Bell Foundation and National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) supports learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
A new initiative is helping young migrants access learning in schools, in the community and in society, it has been announced today (12 March 2014).
The EAL Nexus programme which benefits from the expertise of a partnership between the British Council, The Bell Foundation and National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) provides opportunities to enhance the learning of English to promote intercultural dialogue and social cohesion.
Co-funded by the European fund for the integration of third country nationals (TCN), the programme plans to directly engage with almost 600 teachers and 450 TCN learners across the country with an overall aim to indirectly reach 17,700 learners and teachers.
Working with children and young people who speak English as an Additional Language, their parents and families, and their teachers, the programme will aim to better understand the complexities associated with EAL learning to help improve the experience of learners and teachers in the EAL setting.
As part of the programme, a unique website with a searchable database of quality assured materials for teachers to use with EAL learners will be developed whilst partnerships with EAL experts will support and create platforms for discussions around EAL in the UK. It is also hoped that the programme will build capacity in the EAL sector, as well as help to provide better support to parents and families of EAL learners within the wider community.
Commenting on the project, Anna Searle, Director English at the British Council said: “With over one million EAL learners in UK schools, it is important that projects like EAL Nexus are in place to ensure these learners and their teachers are well supported in their learning.
“It is fantastic to be combining our expertise in English LanguageTeaching with that of The Bell Foundation and NALDIC to bring this programme to EAL learners and their teachers across the UK. We hope that this unique partnership will allow us to make strong progress in developing the EAL sector and will ultimately ensure that young migrant learners feel included within the educational setting, as well as in the wider community.”
Diana Sutton, Director of The Bell Foundation said: “We are pleased to be working in partnership to deliver much needed training, resources and expertise to support children with English as an additional language. This project comes at a time when numbers of children are rising, resources are declining and some children are not achieving to their full potential.”
Yvonne Foley, NALDIC Chair said: “We welcome this opportunity to work with colleagues to promote the quality of the educational provision for pupils with English as an additional language. The nature of EAL is constantly changing because of the dynamic nature of the language and cultural developments across different communities served by schools. We are proud to offer our expertise.”