Now in our fifth year of collaborating with schools, settings and other partners, Better Bilingual officially became a social enterprise – a community interest company (CIC) – in September 2020; we are proud members of Social Enterprise UK and Voscur, who provide excellent business support.
Working for the benefit of children and young people with English as an Additional Language – and their families – has always been our mission. As Better Bilingual CIC, we plan to expand our education consultancy work and to re-focus our efforts on our local city of Bristol (and around), reinvesting all profits to benefit the community we serve.
A huge thank you to everyone who’s collaborated with us on our journey so far; we look forward to working with you and new collaborators in the future. We encourage you to contact our Director, Catherine Brennan, at catherine@betterbilingual.co.uk if you’d like to discuss partnership working.
Enhancing outcomes for bilingual learners in collaboration with educational settings
“Great quality and comprehensive session, with knowledgeable, experienced and friendly trainer.
Pre-session materials very good and relevant.
Really interesting; I like how it linked to other learners and inclusion.
Lots of information and direction to useful websites.”
“It’s actually really refreshing to talk about something that isn’t COVID-related – pupils, school improvement… It’s so wrong but understandable that that’s the thing being pushed further and further back down people’s agendas at the moment. It’s been refreshing – thank you.”
“I can’t emphasise enough how useful the webinar was and how brilliant all the ideas shared were. It has sparked so many ideas for us as a team. It was really wonderful to have contributions from so many people across different phases and the wealth of practical ideas and resources shared was truly inspiring. We are looking forward to the next meeting already!”
“I recently consulted Catherine Brennan at Better Bilingual about developing an orientation programme for new arrivals – refugee and asylum seeker learners – in local schools. I was impressed by her detailed knowledge and experience and came away from our meetings with a better understanding of the overarching goal of my project and the practical steps I needed to take to reach it. I could not have hoped for more sound advice. “
“Catherine answered my call out for EAL specialists who could join our secondary PGCE residential at the University of Buckingham over half-term. Her planning was thoughtful and considered how to differentiate in the classroom but also how to ensure that EAL children feel included, develop a sense of belonging in a different culture and celebrate their backgrounds. The feedback from those who attended was positive on practical strategies she shared”
“The Ethnic Minority Achievement (EMA) development plan you put together for us has been invaluable; we have had three new arrivals from abroad this year with limited English, and the materials you guided me towards and the procedures for helping the students to settle have made a real difference. All staff have been given clear guidance about best practice in teaching EAL students and it is having a positive effect. So thank you again!”
Valuing Multilingualism at Gardners Lane Primary School (GLPS), Cheltenham At Gardners Lane there are 275 children on roll. 88 pupils (or 32%) are learning through EAL (English as an Additional Language). 24 languages, including English, are spoken by the children and families of the GLPS community; Bengali, Polish, Romanian and Portuguese are the minority languages Read more about ‘Language of the Term’ – one school’s experience[…]
As I write this, it is Mental Health Awareness Week 2020 (18-24 May) in the UK, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, with World Wellbeing Week fast approaching on 22-26 June 2020. During these strange COVID-19 times, my thoughts are turning to the power of nature to lift spirits, lighten moods and provide a positive focus Read more about Home learning during school closures: A minibeasts project for primary pupils[…]
New-to-English secondary pupils – from learning in class to learning at home Kindly contributed by our guest author: Caroline Scott – Director, Across Cultures – June 2020 This upsetting case is highlighted by Kamil Trzebiatowski, former EAL Co-ordinator in a large secondary school in the UK. It’s a common story in many schools, where it’s Read more about GUEST BLOG – Caroline Scott – Director, Across Cultures[…]
Over in Cheltenham, Stephen has been busy in his school role as EAL Lead – setting up the fantastic Young Interpreters Scheme at Gardners Lane Primary School, Cheltenham This continues the school’s excellent work in valuing and promoting languages other than English in a school in which 33% of the pupils are from BAME Read more about Young Interpreters Scheme[…]
Funding for pupils with English as an additional language Ref: ‘Schools revenue funding 2019 to 2020’ Delegated funding Local authority funding formula factors for 2019 to 2020 (page 11) English as an additional language (EAL) An optional factor ‘Pupils identified in the October census with a first language other than English may attract funding for Read more about Funding for pupils with English as an additional language – latest update[…]
South West RIG Meeting on Thursday 29th April 2019 from 14:00 – 16:00 at the University of Bath There was a great turnout for the South West EAL NALDIC RIG convened by Gail Forey at the University of Bath in collaboration with Better Bilingual. The meeting began by a presentation by Prof Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, Read more about South West RIG Meeting[…]
On 28th February 2019 Yasmin delivered, in collaboration with BPTSA (Bristol Primary Teaching School Alliance), CPD on Maths and EAL. The focus was on exploring effective techniques on supporting learners to access the language of Maths. “The strategies shared and understanding the progress required by EAL were the most useful elements. I will be using Read more about Yasmin’s latest session[…]
Better Bilingual was delighted to be invited to deliver workshops at the Firm Foundation Conference Joining the Dots on Saturday 16th March 2019. The workshops were really well received with a great group of practitioners attending the workshops. It was clear that that there was a wide range of experiences reflected in the room for Read more about Firm Foundations Joining the Dots Conference – EYFS & EAL Workshop[…]
Better Bilingual EAL Network meeting (BANES) was held on 5th March at St Philip’s C of E Primary School Alice Herve from ‘Bath Welcomes Refugees’ spoke about her work with refugee families including organising tuition for the children. Yasmin Malik highlighted the ‘Young interpreters Scheme’ providing peer to peer support. Jo Childs-Evans shared EAL good Read more about EAL Network meeting BANES, March 2019[…]
Better Bilingual EAL Network meeting (BRISTOL) was held on 12th March at Henbury School Outline of the meeting focused primarily on enhancing provision for learners new to English and included the following: Judith Prosser EAL Co-ordinator at Henbury School spoke about developing her role since joining the school in September 2018 and the positive impact Read more about EAL Network meeting Bristol, March 2019[…]