English as an Additional Language (EAL)

​Students who speak or hear a language other than English at home comprise about 26% of the student population at Thomas Tallis. Approximately 50 languages other than English have long been represented at Thomas Tallis as home or community languages.     

The majority of our EAL students either have equal competence in their languages or a better command of English than their community language, and therefore require little extra support. However, for the few students who are in the early stages of learning English, they require differentiated work set and may receive additional adult support in class or a short-term withdrawal programme. We aim to facilitate the integration of students for whom English is an additional language into the full life of the school, as quickly and as effectively as possible. The support is specific to the needs of students and changes as the student's needs change. 

We encourage all EAL students to achieve qualifications in their home or community languages where possible and celebrate the diversity of our students' linguistic skills.