At Thomas Mitchell Primary School there is a full time EAL (English as an Additional Language) program that offers intensive English language support to students who speak a language other than English at home. Students who are involved in the EAL program participate in several targeted English sessions every week. The EAL program is aimed at developing students' confidence and proficiency in using the English language, in speaking and listening and writing.

The students who attend EAL fall under two categories:

• E.A.L (Students who have English as a second or third language)
• L.B.O.T.E (Students who may speak English or have English as their first language, but have a language other than English spoken at home)

The program is developed to cater for the specific needs of these students. The program aims to support the work of the classroom teacher by providing more intensive instruction and revision in language learning. A strong emphasis in each session is given to oral language, giving the students practise in oral expression, vocabulary building and pronunciation.

EAL Specialist Program Learning Focus

For speaking and listening the program is concerned with the development of:

• Oral language
• Vocabulary development
• Letter-sound knowledge
• Fluency

For writing, the program focuses on the development of:

• Sentence structure
• Grammar rules
• Punctuation
• Spelling conventions
• Vocabulary
• Handwriting
• Editing skills

Writing requires considerable modelling for the EAL learner. The teacher models a range of writing styles that students will be expected to produce in their classrooms such as recounts, expositions, procedure, information reports and narratives.