BISAK is a truly International School and has students from all over the world. As part of its internationalism, in 2007, an EAL satellite programme was introduced.

Students that have no English, limited use or have some knowledge of English, but not enough to access the curriculum are offered a place in an EAL satellite class.

What is an EAL Satellite Class?

It is a small class, no more than 12 students, that offers complete immersion in English. They receive a great amount of one to one quality time with the teacher.
The students spend the whole day learning English through lessons, communication, games, art and craft and become comfortable learning the language with a small group.
They are partnered with a mainstream class and are gradually integrated into that class through a progression of activities until their English has developed to a sufficient level to access the curriculum and be fully integrated. The progression is as follows:-

snack → specialist subjects → maths → science → other subjects → full integration.

The time-line for this progress is completely individualized, catering to the developmental needs of the child.

EAL Support in the Mainstream

There are teachers who provide language support for those children in the mainstream, who have either finished the satellite class but still need a little extra help; or those who enter straight into a mainstream class but aren’t native English speakers and need some extra guidance. In August 2009 we are hoping to expand the EAL in the mainstream programme, providing a greater service for all our international students. The programme is designed to equip all subject teachers with the latest ESL teaching techniques, to ensure ESL students maximise their in-class learning.

The EAL satellite programme is very successful, offering English to a range of nationalities. The students have enriched the school by adding a great variety of talents, skills and culture to our international family.

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