Ensuring a Smooth Return: Preparing for an Inclusive School Year as you Check-out for Summer

As the school holidays approach, teachers and school leaders eagerly anticipate a well-deserved rest, allowing them to recharge after a busy year dedicated to their students' success. It can be easier said than done however, in those first weeks of the holiday, to really "check out" for summer when we are acutely aware of the potential challenges that lie ahead when returning to school., especially in schools where high student turnover alters the teaching requirements year-on-year, ( and there's not enough space to scratch the surface and highlight the challenges that teachers within the UK education system face currently).

If this scenario is resonating with you, I'm sharing some practical strategies here that will hopefully help to alleviate some of these concerns and ensure you have a smooth transition back to school, and can check out for summer, confident in the knowledge that you're prepared to meet the evolving needs of the new students entering your classes.

1) Remind Yourself of Your Baseline Inclusive Teaching and Learning Strategies:

To alleviate the pressure of adapting to changing and diverse classes, it is beneficial to have a repertoire of inclusive teaching and learning strategies readily available. I call these your "baseline inclusive strategies" - these are strategies you already know and which should not require extensive time spent on resourcing. This might include, for example:

- incorporating vocabulary games to reinforce new word acquisition, such as vocabulary relays for example;

- implementing versatile group structures to provide good language models for EAL learners;

- use of translanguaging for EAL learner to support access to, and depth of content exploration; and

- planning where, how and when you will recap prior and key learning points to support timely in-class assessment, scaffolding and intervention.

2) Know That You'll Know Your Class:

At the start of the year, reflecting on your student data and feeding this into a "Who's in my class" record will enable you to, at a glance, ensure you're planned for all the different learning needs, language levels and personalities of the learners in front of you. I have an example of this if you'd like to see it. This will provide a vital foundation for having conversations about progress, strategies and interventions with other teachers, SLT and also with parents. If you know you're going to have some EAL new arrivals who are new to English, consider printing my "Top 10 strategies for new arrivals" poster and placing in a prominent location within your classroom, this will provide a key reminder for both yourself and anyone utilising your classroom of the simple yet crucial strategies that will ensure consistency in meeting the needs of incoming students.

3) Teach Academic Language in the Initial Weeks:

Allocate time during the first few weeks of school to explicitly teach academic language to all learners/classes. Incorporate lesson starters and plenaries focused on academic language proficiency assessment, developing breadth and depth of understanding of this for your subject/curriculum. By doing so, you can gauge the linguistic abilities of your learners early on and identify areas requiring additional support. To facilitate in-class interventions and scaffolding, prepare resources such as ready-to-use sentence starters, cloze activities, or academic language intervention cards, ensuring a seamless integration of support as needed.

4) Mitigate Regression: Addressing Holiday Learning Loss

Recognise that many students experience regression in understanding and core skills over the summer break. By implementing the strategies mentioned above, you will not only be catering to the needs of new EAL learners, but also minimising the potential for regression in other students too. Regularly revisiting and reinforcing prior knowledge, providing ample opportunities for revision and modelling and, once again - planning for explicit and differentiated academic language learning will help bridge the gap and reestablish a solid foundation for all learners.

So, as teachers and school leaders look forward to a well-deserved break, it is crucial to consider the transitional challenges that await their return to school and feel confident in the knowledge that you've got a plan ready to implement for whatever challenges come your way.

By implementing inclusive teaching and learning strategies, understanding individual student needs, prioritising academic language instruction, and mitigating regression, educators can set the stage for a successful and productive school year. Reflecting on these proactive steps now will enable teachers and head teachers to confidently switch off for the summer, knowing they are well-equipped to provide optimal support for their students when they return in a few weeks' time.

If you'd like examples of any of the resources mentioned above, sign up to the newsletter or drop me an email: anna@ealinclusive.com.

Happy holidays!