Ethnic Minority Achievement Services

A good quality induction programme can help new arrivals settle in as quickly as possible and become effective learners. It can help schools make accurate assessments of pupils’ educational experience and attainment, and match teaching to their needs. It can also ensure the participation of parents, including those who for a variety of reasons do not traditionally engage with schools or other services.

Good practice

Robust admission procedures that can effectively manage varying rates of pupil mobility, including sudden influxes of new pupils and pupils from communities new to the school
A positive welcome to all families, with comfortable reception areas, a quiet interview room where confidentiality can be respected and a tour of the school
Good communication with parents that gathers information about the child's prior learning, with interpretation and translated welcome and curriculum information
Admissions meetings with parents on a set day so EMA and other key staff, including family support, can be effectively deployed and a multi-agency response to immediate and longer term needs coordinated
A set day for new arrivals' first day in school a few days after the admissions meeting, so teachers have time to plan for their inclusion
Peer support to help with settling-in, including learning school routines and having company at school break and lunchtimes in the first few days
Initial assessment of new pupils’ language and curriculum skills.
Information sharing with key staff, including teachers, the SENCO, support staff and the school nurse.
Tracking systems developed to ensure all new arrivals' progress is carefully monitored
Short-term social and academic targets that inform tracking and monitoring of early progress, accelerating attainment
A review of progress after a few weeks with the pupil, teachers, support staff and parents. Further partnership can be developed with parents, and the pupil's wider needs further assessed. The involvement of parents in a review meeting, where interpretation is provided if the pupil/parent needs it, can be especially helpful. Children new to English may have important things to say or questions to ask, teachers may wish to give a progress report both to the child and to the parent or share other information, the parent or child may be anxious about progress and need encouragement, the child may need to be placed in more appropriate learning groups or the parent may have need of further support accessing services and community networks in the neighbourhood.

Primary school case studies (see below for secondary)

Effective induction into the curriculum that ensures progression and engagement begins on the first day. Drawn from a range of guidance, this checklist can serve as an aide-memoire to teachers and other support staff.

Hungerford Primary School and Highbury Quadrant Primary School serve diverse multi-ethnic communities in different parts of the borough. Both schools experience high pupil mobility and have recently reviewed their admission and induction procedures to ensure the integration and achievement of all mobile pupils.

Hungerford and Highbury Quadrant, in consultation with the School Nursing Service and School Admissions, have developed a model admission form for gathering information from parents. They use the form as a prompt to gather information about each child’s prior learning, and to develop trust and partnership with families.

At New North Primary School the turnover in pupils during the year can be high, with sudden influxes at particular times. New arrivals at the school are often managing difficult transitions, including children in temporary accommodation, who have fled persecution and war in their countries of origin and who are new to English. There is a well-above the local average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals.

New North has drawn on schools' good practice praised by Ofsted, including the Prince of Wales Primary School in the London Borough of Enfield, and developed admission and induction procedures to manage these transitions effectively.

Pooles Park Primary School: Tracking and reviewing progress

Pooles Park Primary is a large school where the majority of children speak English as an additional language, and high numbers arrive during the school year. A recent Ofsted inspection identified the school as having very good provision and leadership for English as an additional language and very good community links.

The school have developed tracking and review forms for new arrivals to ensure that short-term targets are set, monitoring is carried out efficiently, and that records are kept on individual children. The progress of new arrivals is reviewed 4 weeks after the child starts school with both teacher and EMA teacher/teaching assistant where possible. If there are any concerns before the review then it is brought forward. If at the end of the review there are serious concerns that need action, then a date is agreed to meet again to review the action taken and progress made by the pupil. The review looks at three areas of each child's settling into school: physical and emotional wellbeing; attitude to work and academic performance; and general behaviour. Nursery and Reception classes use their own tailored format.

Secondary school case studies

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (EGA) experience high pupil mobility. There are high levels of social deprivation in the area with 52.4 per cent of students entitled to free school meals. Around 60 per cent of students are learning English as an additional language. Over 20 per cent of the students are from a refugee background. Judged ‘an excellent college with many outstanding features’ at a recent Ofted inspection, inspectors commended the school’s work, including the achievement of pupils with English as an additional language. ‘Students that enter the college with English as an additional language, often after Year 7, are quickly made to feel welcome and given every possible support in their learning.’ (Ofsted, 2005)

EGA has developed admission and induction procedures to manage pupil mobility effectively and ensure that the school is inclusive of all its pupils.

Target setting and tracking to support settling in

Islington secondary schools see responding to the needs of mobile pupils as part of their normal day to day responsibility, and are keen to ensure all staff plan effectively for their inclusion. By ensuring good initial assessment of all new arrivals before their first day, some schools are able to set short-term targets to support settling in and accelerate attainment. These are a mix of social and academic targets and are added to ‘s ettling-in forms’ that have been developed to track progress, filled in after each lesson by teachers, and reviewed daily by key staff such as the EMA Coordinator. Subject teachers are also provided with profile information on each new arrival in advance, with information about prior learning, achievements and any gaps. Support strategies are also suggested in the profile.

Useful websites for schools: resources and guidance

Free to download. Enables schools to develop high quality initial assessment of all EAL new arrivals. The REAL initial assessment provides a balance of quantitative and qualitative data relating to a pupil's:

A DVD and resource pack that showcases a range of practice that promotes the integration of newly arrived refugee children and young people. Developed by Salusbury WORLD and funded by Comic Relief.

All Teachers’ TV programmes can be viewed online via streaming video. Registered users can also download programmes. Most programmes also include links to downloadable resources and support materials. Most recent programmes are listed first.

Little Ilford School in East London works hard to include students with English as an additional language and mid-phase arrivals from the moment they arrive. This programme looks at examples of their approach, including how ethnic minority achievement staff create entry points in the curriculum to make it accessible, challenging and interesting..

This programme looks at inducting and teaching pupils in a school with both a high pupil mobility rate, and a large percentage of students with EAL. The pupil induction process at Cleveland Primary School is seen in action, providing tips on pupil fact-finding, administrative techniques, and teacher and pupil preparation. The teaching and EAL team demonstrate techniques and provide ideas on how to engage pupils that have a wide range of English abilities and come from a large number of different ethnic backgrounds.

Ethnic Minority Achievement Service

Mobility - Induction Procedures

Good practice

Primary school case studies (see below for secondary)

Pooles Park Primary School: Tracking and reviewing progress

Secondary school case studies

Target setting and tracking to support settling in

Useful websites for schools: resources and guidance