Over the past month, we have been delighted to be involved in welcoming young people from Ukrainian into Primaries and Secondaries across Renfrewshire.  While numbers so far are relatively small, it is steady increasing.

Like many of our EAL learners who have come to Renfrewshire over the years from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, for instance, these young people have found themselves displaced from their homes, their friends and families.  It is all the more important that we reach out to them, make them feel welcome and help them settle into their new surroundings.

As would be expected, across the country schools are requesting support in terms of suitable resources to help Ukrainian learners access the curriculum.  To this end, we have provided a list of resources which has been distributed to schools in Renfrewshire and which can be accessed on a dedicated page on this website.  We will add to this as new resources become available.

The resources range from language supports such as mats with common school terms, to those to support young people’s health and wellbeing, particularly those who may have experienced trauma.  There are also links to Ukrainian online schools.

It is important to note that the EAL strategies used to support new arrivals from Ukraine should remain the same as those currently used to support any new child with English as an additional language.  Education Scotland’s publication Learning in 2(+) Languages provides a very useful outline for schools of good practice in supporting learners with EAL.

E-Portfolio tag: Language and Literacy