Somewhere in next week’s September intake, there’s a child who will walk through your door with a whole language you don’t speak. Polish, Urdu, Romanian, Yoruba. They’ll arrive carrying songs, jokes and two or three years of rich conversation, none of it in English, and how your team responds in the first few weeks will shape their whole year.
With the new term almost here, it’s a good moment to get everyone confident about what actually helps.
The silent phase is not a problem to fix
Many children learning English as an additional language go quiet for a while after starting. Days, sometimes months. It unnerves practitioners, and it worries parents, but it’s a well-recognised stage of additional language development. The child isn’t switched off; they’re doing intense receptive work, absorbing sounds, tuning into routines, matching words to things. Speaking comes when they’re ready, and pressure doesn’t bring that day closer.
What helps during this stage is being included without being put on the spot. A place in the song circle with no obligation to sing. An adult who narrates warmly without demanding answers. Watch the child’s eyes and hands rather than waiting for their voice: joining in with actions, laughing at the right moments and following instructions are all communication, and all signs of a child who is learning fast.
Home language is an asset, never a barrier
The instinct to encourage “more English at home” is well meant and exactly wrong. A strong first language is the foundation the second one is built on, and it’s also the language of bedtime, grandparents and identity. Families should hear from you, clearly and early, that keeping the home language alive is one of the best things they can do.
Inside the setting, valuing that language takes small, concrete forms. Learn the correct pronunciation of the child’s name, and how their family says hello, please and toilet. Get a few key words from parents at the settling visit and use them. Put familiar print and stories where children can find them. None of this requires a bilingual member of staff; it requires curiosity and about ten spare minutes with a parent who will usually be delighted you asked.
The everyday strategies carry it from there. Consistent routines, so the day is predictable even when the words aren’t yet. Visual timetables and gesture alongside speech. Buddying with a sociable peer. Repetitive songs and stories, which hand children chunks of English they can reuse. Our Supporting Children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) course works through these strategies properly, along with the stages of additional language development and how to build real partnership with families.
Knowing what’s EAL and what isn’t
One question needs a careful head: is this child quiet because they’re learning English, or is there an underlying speech, language or communication need? Learning two languages doesn’t cause delay, so the answer starts with the home language. A child who chatters fluently in Romanian at home has strong language, full stop; they just don’t have much English yet. A child whose parents say communication is limited in every language may need a different kind of support, and sooner.
That conversation with parents is your best assessment tool, which is one more reason the family relationship matters from day one. If in doubt, observe how the child communicates without words: a child who gestures, points, brings you things and drags you by the sleeve to the problem is communicating richly, whatever language it happens in.
Be ready for every language arriving in September
The course covers how young children acquire additional languages, the silent phase, valuing home languages, practical inclusion strategies and telling EAL apart from communication needs, with an NFAQ-accredited certificate on completion.
A year from now, that new starter will likely be bossing the home corner in confident English, and still singing to their grandmother in the language they came with. Both of those outcomes are yours to protect.