Language Development

There is a diverse student population at Rushey Mead Academy, with more than 45 home languages spoken by our students. We believe it is very important that all students are taught in mainstream lessons following the full curriculum, working alongside their peers in all subjects, whatever their level of English proficiency.

When students come directly from overseas they are interviewed and assessed by the Language Development Team and their level of English proficiency, abilities and needs are shared with their teachers, in order for them to be supported as effectively as possible. This may take the form of individual mentoring from the Language Development Mentors, support in lessons and/or after-school intervention classes to improve their English. This gives students every opportunity to develop their English skills and become integrated into the school as quickly and as fully as possible.

Our aim is to:

Champion the diversity of languages in the school and celebrate the advantages of speaking more than one language;
Support the integration of all students within the mainstream classroom (support and mentoring provided by our Language Development Mentors);
Provide support for teachers which enables students to access mainstream teaching and learning (resources, strategies, scaffolding etc);
Provide extra-curricular support to improve the use of English within the context of the curriculum (development of academic language, intervention sessions after school, work at home, parental links);
Mentor and monitor new arrivals;
Ensure students meet the expectations of the full curriculum and participate fully in all tasks set.