English as an Additional Language

EAL in Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh English as an Additional Language (EAL) Service is part of the Children and Families Department.

We work in partnership with schools and other agencies to help them meet the needs of bilingual and minority ethnic learners in ways that are socially and educationally inclusive.

We aim to help schools make their provision more accessible to, and inclusive of, pupils who are learning through English as an additional language, so as to improve their learning outcomes and experiences.

We do this by:

  • Offering information and advice about effective teaching and whole school approaches.
  • Working in classrooms in partnership with school staff to implement teaching strategies that are supportive of the acquisition of language and literacy across learning.
  • Developing and making available effective resources, including those in translation (see Resources and Websites).
  • Helping to carry out assessments, and to monitor and track progress of bilingual minority ethnic learners.
  • Providing a range of resources, support and advice to improve parental involvement.

Useful Websites

Click on the names to open a these sites

Learn English

LearnEnglish Kids has lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities

ESL Kids Lab

ESL Kids Lab provides a number of resources including printable worksheets

Starfall

Learning to read activities

Brainpop

Animated movies, quizzes and games to support learning English

English Online

YouTube link for fun English activities

Pumpkin

Online games and activities