English as an Additional Language
English as an Additional Language (EAL)
At Mitcham Primary School we welcome all students, and value their language, nationality, ethnicity and religion and communities. We encourage our students to be multi-lingual and maintain their language of origin while providing a comprehensive English as an Additional Language (EAL) program.
Catering for the language and literacy development of EAL learners is a long-term, shared school community commitment. The most effective EAL provision involves a whole-school approach. Mitcham Primary School has a targeted EAL Program and designated EAL Teacher, that is provided for the students with the greatest learning need. All teachers are aware of the learning needs of the EAL cohort.
EAL pedagogy is evident in classroom programs, planning, teaching and assessment practices. Students that are part of our EAL Program are assessed against the EAL Development Continuum.
EAL Programs
Students selected for the EAL Program may include children who have recently arrived from overseas with minimal English, or students who may be born in Australia but live in a household with a predominantly non-English speaking background. The EAL program provides these students with additional support. Based on their need, EAL Students are collected from their classroom for one to two hours a week by our designated EAL Teacher, and are taken to our EAL Room to undertake a variety of curriculum linked school work and activities.
In additional to our daily EAL Program, Snack and Study is a Homework Club run for the EAL students at Mitcham Primary School. It provides support to students with literacy, numeracy, and study skills, providing them with an additional hour of learning time each week. It helps build confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of connection to school and the wider community. Volunteer tutors (Year 8- 12 students from Yarra Valley Grammar School) come to work with the younger children. This partnership has been in operation for over 10 years and a strong supportive relationship has been built between the two schools. It is run once a week, after school in the library.