PDST English as an Additional Language (EAL) Workshop

English as an Additional Language (EAL) has become a crucial aspect of Kinsale Community School in recent months. Last week some of our staff received a workshop from Narrell Byrne of the PDST on EAL. The workshop was incredibly beneficial for all involved with Narrell covering fundamental principles of EAL learners' education and various methodologies/teaching strategies to be applied for effective learning.

 Strategies such as live subtitles of the teacher speaking via Microsoft Powerpoint have since proven invaluable in the mainstream setting for EAL learners as it offers them the tools to access the curriculum. On the topic of Curriculum, Narrell emphasised the importance of focusing EAL lessons on the vocabulary and topics they are covering in their various pedagogies. Overall, it was a highly informative workshop which will indoubtedly prove invaluable for the progression of our EAL learners.

Evan Kearns