Earlwood Public School

Courtesy, Loyalty, Courage

Telephone02 9789 5066

Emailearlwood-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

English as a second language

English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D)

Earlwood Public School has a very high percentage of students who have a language background other than English. Approximately 35 different cultural groups are represented in our school. This creates a very unique and diverse student population.

Schools with a high proportion of students from language backgrounds other than English receive additional support staff. EAL/D teachers assist classroom teachers to meet the language need of these students across the curriculum. This is what we refer to as an EAL/D program.

EAL/D Teachers:

  • Mrs McKelleher

  • Mrs Poulos 

How is the program organised?

The EAL/D program at our school is organised in three main ways:

  •  Joint teaching where the EAL/D teacher and the class teacher work together to teach a lesson
  •  Group teaching where the EAL/D teacher works with a small group of students
  • Withdrawal where the EAL/D teacher withdraws certain students for more intense work e.g. new arrivals

What are some other jobs EAL/D teachers do?

  • Keeping accurate data on the number of students with language backgrounds other than English
  • Assisting to integrate a multicultural approach in classroom lessons
  • Purchasing/organising literacy resources
  • Organising interpreters for parents who experience difficulty communicating in English