Welcome to the EAL Information Area

Millbay Academy is composed of a diverse range of cultures and ethnicities with over 20 different nationalities and languages represented. This diversity makes Millbay Academy a unique school in a South West England that is predominantly English born and native English speaking.

As a school, we take great pride in making sure all students are listened to, and are in the position to progress and access their learning to their fullest potential. This means ensuring that all students with English as an additional language have the same same opportunities as native speakers. You can see this through the high success rate in our GCSE results.

Upon arrival, students will receive an induction package which will be translated into their native language as well as English. They will then undergo an assessment to determine their English language proficiency. This is to help the staff ensure they are given equal opportunities and allocate specific, appropriate support. An individual tour of the school is then followed by a meeting with the EAL coordinator, which is of course adapted to be translated to the student’s native language.

During this meeting a timetable will be issued, and a student buddy assigned. The student buddy is there to help the student ease into the school and decrease some of the anxiety and pressure. Each student will have training on a range of new technologies and will be able to access a laptop to use to help progress their learning. This includes a variety of apps and language resources to help develop their English understanding.

Millbay prides itself on supporting new students in becoming independent learners from the start, while still nurturing their growing English skills. We also aim as a school to support the students' proficiency and literacy in their first language and, where appropriate, to enter them for a GCS

We understand that without support from parents and carers, EAL pupils may not be able to reach their full potential in school. Millbay Academy makes a strong effort to support parents/carers with guidance from the first day of school.

We are aware that some parents may not only be unfamiliar with the English language, but also the English school progression, curriculum, grading and assessments systems. That’s why our EAL coordinator, Kathleen, is there to offer explanation and support.

Parents/carers can contact the EAL coordinator at kchandler@millbayacademy.org to discuss any concerns or request further information. All emails from the EAL Coordinator will be translated into their native language to make it as easy as possible to understand.

Millbay Academy has a wide range of fantastic teachers and pastoral supporters that students can interact with during their education, and invests considerable time ensuring that our class planning and differentiation fully meets the needs of all students, including our EAL students.

The majority of EAL inclusivity centres around creating a visual map that students can follow, accompanied by a host of translation devices that help them build up keyword banks, phonics through lexonik and high-frequency words, all supported by reading interventions.

Millbay Academy is well recognised as an inclusive and multicultural school. We are also constantly growing and enhancing our practice with further CPD and staff training, to provide the best opportunities for EAL students.