Early Years Admission process

Admissions procedures for young EAL and Traveller pupils and their parents

All primary and infant schools have developed excellent admissions procedures for their nursery and reception classes, however, it may be useful to reflect upon the needs of a small group of ethnic minority learners who may require some adaptations of these procedures.

Many of the pupils have already had pre-school experience and some exposure to English but there may be others who fall into the following categories:

• Pupils who have not attended nursery or any pre-school
• Pupils who are newly arrived in England.
• Pupils who have just returned from an extended visit abroad
• Pupils who have attended pre-school in other areas or had intermittent pre-school experience.
• Pupils in many European countries start school later than in the UK; starting at 6 or 7 years of age is common but many of these pupils have attended a kindergarten or pre-school.

Such pupils may:

• feel confused and frustrated because they cannot communicate effectively with the adults and children in the classroom because their first language is not the medium of the school.
• lose confidence and self-esteem because they feel that their language is not acknowledged or valued by the school.
• experience a culture shock because of differences in:
  • structure of the day
  • clothes
  • diet
  • skin colour
  • social customs
  • attitudes towards gender
  • educational experiences
  • enclosed space

Induction programmes for such pupils may need to be adapted but may not be appropriate for all:

• The pupil may need the support of a parent or relative in the classroom to help them become accustomed to routines and ways of working. This is also one way to help the parent become accustomed to the more informal atmosphere of the classroom. The pupil will become used to hearing and using the first language as well as English in school.
• Pupils who arrive during the academic year will require a similar induction programme as the others, perhaps somewhat accelerated.
• Try to arrange for the parents and the child to visit the school first with a friend or another parent who can help interpret. Show them the school and explain about routines and expectations so that the parents can tell the child at home. Hopefully any concerns and misunderstandings can be prevented.

Placement for Yr R children

• Group the child with strong English language peer models.

• Carefully consider physical placement so that pupils have clear direct access to all available classroom cues to meaning e.g. the black/white board, teacher's facial expression, peer actions etc. Towards but not at the front of a classroom is very supportive.

• Opportunities to work with other EAL children can be beneficial at times.