Have you ever set up a new EAL department? If so, how did you go about establishing your targets and priorities for development? In this (very niche) post, I’ll summarize how I approached this at the start of the academic year.

How did I come to set up an EAL department?

I’m EAL Lead in a high school. The high school already had some EAL provision in place, and the teachers leading on this were doing a grand job. However, the need for more wide-ranging EAL support emerged due to market shifts here in Malaysia.

Embedding quality EAL provision became a key part of the school development plan (go school!!!). A department/small team was needed, and I was trusted to lead on that.

I know – me. What were they thinking?!

How did I decide on our main targets for development as a new department?

I started by getting the lay of the land for a month or so and making lots of notes. I’d been in contact with the school a lot prior to arrival, so I had a fair idea of what I *thought* was already in place regarding EAL provision. But you never really know until you’re in role.

Biding my time a bit helped me to merge the general targets I already had in mind with those that were more relevant to our school context. I ended up outlining these broad targets for EAL development in the high school for year 1 and into year 2.

1. Clear(er) progression along the EAL journey

I could see gaps in our processes. We *do* identify the need for EAL provision during the admissions stage, but this process could be tighter. Aspects of our learner induction *are* inclusive, but we could make that better/more comprehensive. Our ‘EAL exit’ process could be tighter. Etc.

2. Embedding clear assessment processes for EAL within the High School

This linked to parts of the overall EAL journey (identification, intervention, etc). The main area for development was that the school didn’t use an EAL-specific assessment tool, and I felt that it was a priority to embed one.

3. Embedding EAL support within the mainstream curriculum

The EAL provision that I feel is effective involves lots of in-class support within the mainstream. With the school setting up a new department with four new staff, our capacity to offer in-class support for EAL learners greatly increased. I wanted to get our team into subject classrooms as much as possible, and I needed to work out how best to do this.

(After reading a chapter from Emma Turner’s leadership book ‘Be More Toddler’, I felt embedding in-class support was one of my non-negotiables. My ‘chocolate buttons and lollipops’, as her analogy goes)

4. Connecting subject departments with EAL teachers

On the surface, targets 3 and 4 might seem similar. However, it is easier said than done (in some schools) to set up open and willing channels of communication between specialists, subject teachers, HoDs and so on. Also, due to the set-up here where EAL teachers have fairly full timetables of pull-out classes, we don’t have as much time to get into subject classrooms. Our EAL support staff (whose timetable is about 60% in-class support) are important mediators for us, and that role needs to be recognized/supported/developed, etc.

5. Creating a sustainable model of EAL provision for Years 7-9.

EAL teachers deliver all English classes for learners on the EAL register. That means either delivering the same content as mainstream English, or adapting it. You might assume the former is best – high expectations and all. However, when you also need to provide support for/reviews of subject-specific content within that set class time, some adaptation seems inevitable. We’ve been creating our own EAL curriculum which aligns to themes and content across the mainstream curriculum. We need to evaluate our progress on that regularly to check we are giving learners what they need.

From general towards specific

After I established our broader targets, I started honing in on what each one really meant. Here’s an example of some of our (still not SMART) sub-targets:

Clear(er) progression along the EAL journey.

1. Become more involved in the initial assessment of EAL arrivals at admissions stage

2. Clearer induction processes for new joiners

3. Clearer data/info tracking for EAL learners

4. Clearer EAL exit procedures

5. Support with transition to mainstream English

And then I started to SMART them a bit with a tangible outcome:

1. Become more involved in the initial assessment of EAL arrivals at admissions stage

Actions: our dept to take on the speaking interviews for new joiners; learners take another initial assessment upon starting at the school to confirm leveling from admissions assessment

2. Clearer induction processes for new joiners

Actions: Make an induction pack for new students and their families. Cover a range of inclusion types (academic, social, linguistic, etc) through the resource.

3. Clear data/info tracking for EAL learners

Actions: we need a new department markbook; we need all Bell data centralized and accessible; we need more comprehensive learner profiles (including strategies for subject teachers to employ), etc

4. Clear exit EAL procedures

Actions: Adapt the awesome checklist used by Jackie Wice (St Andrews Thailand). Learning from the best…

5. Support with transition to mainstream English

Actions: We need transition packs for EAL learners exiting to mainstream, Year 6 to Year 7 EAL, etc

As you can see, there’s a lot to think about even for one broad target!

Tracking progress

So, there are about 20 targets that we are working towards. Some were quick wins, some we made big leaps with early on but have slipped, others are building slowly and steadily. We track progress on our quality assurance document, and I also keep a visual check of how our department processes work towards these goals. I have a department time plan, which outlines our key tasks each week. I colour-code the tasks to show which target they relate to. This is a good way for me to quickly visualize which targets we are focusing on most, which ones we might be slipping on, etc.

Emerging targets

Our list of targets changes a bit. One area I quickly realised was neglected was CPD for our team. I have provided some in-department training, set up some peer obs, done some drop-ins, done appraisals, and so on. But I’ve been less systematic in that area (ha – and my MA is in Professional Development for Language Education – you’d think I’d have been on it with CPD really…). A big target for 2024/25 is to up the in-department CPD offered. A resource that Adri and I are working on *could* help with that but we’ll see.

Autonomy

One thing worth mentioning, and this is a point worth making to senior leaders – our leadership team have been very hands-off. Sure, there are some processes to set up that require falling in line with other depts. Beyond that, the leaders here have really trusted our team and given us freedom and decision-making powers. When we’ve needed support, they are there, which is great. And when we highlight areas for development, they are very rarely defensive – they reflect and welcome suggestions and improvements.

The only issue with that is I can’t really blame SLT when we get things wrong. I’m not really a fan of that level of accountability…

Support

New EAL departments are popping up everywhere! If you’re tasked with setting up a new EAL dept then I’m happy to share more about our processes. They may not fit your thinking, but they might offer some ideas. And I’ll happily talk through any ideas you have and help shape them. Just get in touch!

Image by Raphael Silva from Pixabay

Categories: General, reflections, teacher development

Tags: accountability, eal, leadership, school development plan, targets