At Queen Margaret's we welcome girls from a wide cultural and international background, because we know that not only will they benefit greatly from experiencing life in a boarding school in England, but also because we recognise how much they enhance the life of the first language speakers who study with us. We aim to support all girls fully and encourage their rapid integration into the school, through the curriculum and the extra curricular activities on offer. At the same time, we celebrate ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity in the school and always try to maintain a strong sense of cultural origin for our EAL speakers, in events such as the hugely popular Chinese New Year supper and International Day buffet, a feast of international food, dance and music.
The normal curriculum time allocated to EAL support is one hour per girl. The actual amount of support required on an individual level is based on an initial assessment of the girl's fluency in English and is regularly monitored during her time at the school. The support available is for three main purposes:
The development of vocabulary, writing, reading, pronunciation and listening skills through a variety of activities.
Language support to enable a pupil to make progress in a specific subject, through vocabulary development.
Tuition for internationally recognised EAL qualifications, such as IELTS, PET, IGCSE and FCE
EAL staff liaise closely with departments, especially the English team, as well as non-teaching staff in order to integrate the girls as quickly and as sympathetically as possible, and to make each girl's time at Queen Margaret's not only educationally and linguistically rewarding, but also to provide a rich and memorable life experience.