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This guidance from The Bell Foundation provides a framework for schools to ensure that any EAL learners, who may also have a special educational need or disability (SEND), receive appropriate and effective support.
Whole-school, EAL, and SEND audit tools;
Post-audit action plan;
Staff observation sheets;
Planning tools;
Home/family questionnaires;
Case studies.
Learning EAL is not the same as having a SEND. Depending on their level of proficiency in English, multilingual children who are learning EAL may face linguistic challenges and may need targeted language support, devised by EAL specialists, to help them learn both the language and all their subjects in English.
There are, however, significant numbers of multilingual children who do have SEND. For those children to thrive and reach their potential it is vital that they are identified as early as possible, so they can receive targeted and integrated support that addresses both their linguistic challenges, and their special learning needs.
The guidance is aimed at all school staff who are responsible for the provision of support for EAL learners who also have a SEND.
The guidance contains case studies of children from early years through to KS4 and a list of organisations and resources for EAL, SEND, and refugee education.
There is no single test that schools can administer to learners using EAL, that will reliably indicate the presence of a SEND. Most tests have been designed for fluent English speakers and contain cultural and content biases that create barriers to meaning making, especially for children who are new to the UK and the language.
The measures below will help schools to identify learners using EAL who also may have SEND, and to devise appropriate support:
Teachers can strengthen their practice, to meet the needs of learners using EAL by: