Embedding EAL in-class support

By Pete on February 21, 2025 • ( 1 )

When we set up our EAL department last year we started with one HoD, one EAL teacher, and two EAL support coaches.

As the HoD, I teach an 80% timetable. Our teacher has a full timetable. Our coaches oversee about eight scheduled pull-out slots each during the week, but apart from that their ‘official’ timetable on iSAMs looks sparse. So, how do they fill their time?

The short answer is mainly though providing in-class support. I instruct our language coaches to create their own timetables based on where the greatest needs are for the EAL student body.

Wait, create their own timetables?!

Yeah. About 60% of their allocated time is decided by them.

Hmmm. Sounds loose. So where do they start with that?

Well, they’re not starting from scratch. We have an EAL register with learner profiles (including Bell data, CEFR data, etc) so obviously they know which learners are likely to need support! They spend the first 3 weeks of the academic year getting into as many classes as possible and observing the learners. They update assessment trackers, make notes, assess classroom dynamics, and work out where the need is.

We also act on feedback from subject teachers. We ask teachers to feedback a lot early on in the term, telling us what support they feel is needed for their learners. Coaches then go to observe certain learners in various classes and build a picture of the provision needed.

Eventually, the coaches tell me where they are going to be and which learners they’re supporting. Then we lock in the slots.

Lock them in? For the rest of the academic year?

No. It’s all fluid. Needs will change. Reduced support for some, increased for others, new joiners mid-term or at term start. Timetables are constantly under review. Especially at the start of term, when I say ‘do your thing for the first couple of weeks and see where we are at’.

Why don’t you just tell them where to go yourself?

Because I teach an 80% timetable of a bespoke English curriculum and very rarely see the learners in subject classrooms. I don’t know where the greatest needs are in the mainstream context. My coaches are the eyes and ears of the department. They are the most important cogs in the wheel. So they need autonomy and fluidity.

That sounds like a lot of pressure on the coaches. Be honest – are you just a lazy line manager and can’t be bothered with timetabling?

Lazy?! I mean, sure, I hate timetabling. But this isn’t me being lazy. This is me giving my in-class support staff autonomy. It’s what I would want. It’s what I had at times in my previous role. It’s what I feel the coaches require because support needs are always changing and they need that flexibility to react.

Don’t they take advantage? I mean, what if they find it hard to support in a particular subject area? They could just avoid it…

How? Why? They are there for the learners! They support with whatever is needed.

Sure, some coaches have their specialist areas – one of ours loves supporting in Humanities, the other is more sciency. Fine. They can work together and establish who will support in what area, in order to optimize provision for the learners. Ultimately though, they’re professionals – they may have their preferences, but they will also do what’s needed to upskill in other subject areas. It’s our job to meet learner needs as best we can. The coaches are highly adaptable.

How do you know?

Because I conduct the developmental observations of coaches during in-class support. I know they’re great. Also, I trust them as fellow professionals.

So, what’s a full timetable for them?

32 lessons of 40 minutes duration. But my coaches are on 85-90% teaching timetables.

What? You reduce their timetables too? Why?

Because 10% of their time is spent planning vocabulary pre-teaching activities and additional provision to support in-class. And planning our after-school programme, which they lead on, so I give them more planning time to ensure quality.

In-class support is such a responsive role. There is so much support off the cuff in class, but then there’s the planning afterwards to review content during support slots (in our context anyhow). That takes planning, upskilling in certain subject areas, drawing out a language focus, creating resources. You’ve got to give coaches the space/time to do that. We feel that pre-teaching some vocabulary helps, but coaches need time to create effective provision for that.

Are leadership aware of the autonomy you give your staff when it comes to timetabling?

They are now.

Now?

Yes.

Not always?

No.

How come?

Because there were no in-class EAL support staff prior to our department being setting up. Leaders gave me a team that included support staff, but they didn’t have a clear model of provision in mind. They trusted me to create one – who knows why.

My main constraint as a new HoD was that EAL teachers (that’s me and my teammate Becky) would be delivering all English classes for EAL learners. So, I knew I would be tied up with creating a bespoke EAL curriculum to run alongside mainstream English. As a result, I needed my coaches to take on the full responsibility for in-class support. When leaders tried to get me to commit to clearly timetabling my staff, I said:

No
Trust me
Trust in the process. This will make sense and you’ll see a benefit.
Thanks for your trust, even though you probably don’t have it at the moment
Oh and also can you make sure that my coaches are not scheduled to do cover just because you perceive them as having an empty timetable on iSAMs? They’re actually super busy all the time. Cheers.

Jeez. How did that go down?!

I mean, surprisingly smoothly. I was line managed by one of the leadership team and, well, they were the key to success really. They were patient, trusted my judgement, and kinda let me sink or swim while always being there if needed. A strong leader. They kept the judgements at bay.

Now the school has a developing culture of in-class support for EAL learners – one which is growing. So, sink or swim…? We’re swimming I guess. Certainly past treading water, beyond doggy paddle, but 5 support staff shy of an Olympic record in butterfly.

Growing?

I know! They’re advertising for another coach, so they clearly see the benefit with this approach.

So why did you decide to go down that route? I mean, coaches building their own timetables… all very organic.

Because successful EAL support is built on trust, rapport and relationships. That means getting support staff in and around the mainstream classroom, usualising their presence across day-to-day teaching and learning – potentially for *every* learner if you get that rapport right.

When support staff are involved in mainstream learning then they are better able to gauge what support is relevant/appropriate for learners during any pull-out provision. They are also better able to demonstrate their knowledge and their worth to subject teachers – that’s important when having a support team is a new thing in the context.

What’s the big deal, anyway? This just sounds like a standard way of working in many contexts.

Yeah, but it wasn’t in mine (at high school level I mean). That makes it a new culture, and that’s often difficult to embed.

Impact impact impact! How do you know it’s effective? Give us data!

Jeez. Is there no room for a bit of humanism in contemporary teaching?

It works because:

teachers say things like ‘it’s great having [coach] working one-to-one with learners, they seem far more involved…’
Or ‘having [coach] supporting in class is a godsend’
Or ‘thanks for all the work your team are doing, it’s making such a difference’
And when you can see/hear the learners growing in confidence across curricular areas due to having that crutch.
And when you see some of the quality resources the coaches produce
And when there are pastoral/academic concerns about learners and one of the first places to go for info is ‘to the EAL coaches’ because they see how many things play out
And when teachers start off a bit reluctant about working with support staff and later you overhear staffroom convos like ‘Hmmm, I’ll have chat with [coach] about what we might do to support [student]…’ as if it’s just become an everyday thing.

Which it is. Just an everyday thing. But we’ve got it working from scratch. Cool.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay