As an international school with over 90% of students with English as an additional language (EAL), determining their level of English proficiency and the right level of support required for each individual student is key in the success of our programme.
We pride ourselves on the Exemplary EAL provision here at the British International School of Ljubljana.
As an Outstanding school following the British curriculum, our students come from all around the world - we have students from over 40 countries currently on roll, to be exact. The level of English proficiency of our incoming students varies, there are those who are fluent, those who are completely new to English, and everything else in between.
Admissions is really the first step in the whole induction process of each individual student to BISL. Our admissions team makes sure that our Admissions Policy is followed in order to ensure equal and fair opportunities for all of our applicants. Year group placement comes next, and is established based on the age, academic background and any special circumstances of our applicants. Once they join their appropriate class, each student is assigned a buddy - a classmate who helps them settle in, get to know school routines and generally make them feel welcome.
Pupils using EAL with a range of learning needs successfully access the curriculum.
After initial observations, which our EAL team complete with the help of Class Teachers, the English department or Form Tutors, the newly arrived students complete standardised tests (CAT4 or PTE) and specially devised EAL assessments. These assessments are age appropriate and cover all four domains of the English language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. With the help of the BELL Foundation Framework, the EAL Department can determine the level of support and Tier placement for each individual student.
Find out more about our Outstanding English Provision and the Exemplary EAL support here.
ALFRIAccreditation ReportStudents make excellent progress in their proficiency in English as well as in curriculum learning, with some increasing two EAL bands in the course of an academic year.
These initial assessments are just the first step in our tracking of students' progress in our year groups and in the EAL department in particular. At BISL, we take students' progress seriously and are very proud of their outstanding achievements. Throughout the year, we conduct a series of assessments that allow us to track individual students’ progress:
- written assignment at the beginning and end of every block
- reading comprehension assessment every term
- spelling bee each week
- reading age tests
- phonics assessments in KS1
- reading fluency tests
- subject specialist assessments
- standardised CAT 4 assessment at the beginning of the academic year (or upon enrolment)
- end of the year standardised Progress Tests in English and Maths (PTE and PTM) in Years 2 - 9
- IGCSE and A-Level examinations in Years 11 - 13
Our EAL team tracks each student's progress from the moment they are enrolled in the programme until the moment they exit it, with the help of the award-winning BELL Foundation Framework and their Framework tracker.
At the end of each term, each EAL student receives a detailed EAL report on their progress in all four domains of the English Language, as well as their targets for the next term.
Pupils using EAL achieve outstanding results, well above the UK average.
Read more about the outstanding results of our students from the past years in this article or join us again for future articles, when we will discuss this year's EAL results.
