• Welcome to the first WGPS EALD Blog!
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  I will be adding information regularly about what students are learning in EALD classes, so I hope you will keep checking back regularly, as well, for updates.
  
  
  I am a specialist EAL/D teacher and I work with students who have a language background other than English. Some students I work with were born in Australia and some were born overseas.
    
  EALD is an initialism which stands for English as an Additional Language and /or Dialect. (If you’re wondering what initialism is: (noun) an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g. BBC))
  
  
  For the first few weeks of school, I have been busy completing a census of the EAL/D students. This encompasses students from kindy to year 6 who attend WGPS and have a language background other than English. I must assess a student’s English ability in speaking, listening to information and instructions, reading, viewing and writing. These assessments help me to find out whether a student would benefit from some support and more practice to learn Standard Australian English (SAE) words in common use, idiomatic expressions, and the academic language which is used in the classroom.
  
  
  At WGPS and throughout Western Australia, students who have a language background other than English (LBOTE) are assessed on their use and understanding of SAE using the Western Australian Progress Maps. At our school, EAL/D students on the census receive both a Progress Map report and a WA curriculum report in English in semesters one and two.
  
  
  The census has taken a few weeks to complete as our school has had a number of newly enrolled students. It is important that the information truly reflects a student’s circumstances, as the eligible students attract funding for the school. This funding is used by the principal to cater for the needs of our students.
  
  
  The second important task that has taken a great deal of my time is to set up a timetable so I can help teachers in classrooms where there are eligible EAL/D students.
  
  
  The school has decided, following some vocabulary testing, that there is a need to focus on building students’ knowledge and understanding of words or vocabulary they encounter in class. These words may come from spelling lists, phonic words, class books the students are reading, sight words and their writing. In focusing on growing the vocabulary of our EALD students, our aim is to assist students to quickly know the meaning of these words, spell them correctly and be able to use these target words in a sentence. This will definitely assist students’ comprehension.
  
  
  In EALD classes, students will be involved in talking about word meanings, viewing and drawing pictures to show meanings, using the words in sentences, spelling words correctly, playing card games and drama.
  
  
  Please open the year level tabs to find out the target words for the week (or fortnight in some classes), for your child’s year level.
  
  
  I am really pleased to be able to keep you informed of what is happening in the EALD programme at WGPS.
  
  
  Please follow the link to find translations for many parent information leaflets. These leaflets provide you with some great reading about topics that will benefit your child.
  
  
  Click here to view information documents.
  
  
  I leave you with this quote:
  
  
  “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” 
  Ludwig Wittgenstein (Philosopher, 1889-1951)
  
  
  Warm regards,
  Glenda Thomson
  EAL/D Specialist Teacher
  Wattle Grove Primary School