Kate Anderson - Head of EAL - The Hague

In this episode I’m talking to Kate Anderson. Kate is the Head of the EAL department at The British School in the Netherlands and as such leads on English as an Additional Language provision across the secondary phase.

I was looking to talk with someone like Kate after giving a lot of thought to how I work with EAL teachers in my own school and the obvious deficits in regard to my understanding and ability when doing so. Kate offers lots of fantastic insight and advice surrounding what it means to have EAL students in the classroom and school as well as how best to support them within the school community.

We discuss:

- The best book she’s ever read, taught or learnt at school herself

- How or what to review in terms of EAL provision each year

- What the EAL department does at The British School in The Netherlands

- The ways in which Kate’s department spend time building relationships both with prospective students and their family online

- What is the one thing EAL teachers would like to say to teachers of other subjects if they had the chance?

- The possibility that being assisted by the EAL department may lead to some self-consciousness and whether or not this can be overcome

- And finally, where teachers can look for resources or training with regard to better connections and teamwork with the EAL department

Thanks again to Kate for a clear understanding of the type of conversations and considerations that go on within the EAL department. With some hardworking and attention to detail I hope that what I’ve heard from Kate can inform my own planning and work alongside her counterparts in my own school.

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Links:

Breaking Through The Language Barrier by Patricia Mertin

Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning by Pauline Gibbons

Educating Second Language Children by Fred Genesee