Who are we?The Multicultural Service is a small, dedicated team, with a range of experiences and backgrounds in education.
Currently the Team includes:
- Christine Serres, full time E.A.L* Team Leader/ Teacher
- Nilufar Islam, full time E.A.L /SEN Teaching Assistant
- Lyndsey Waters, part-time E.A.L SEN Teaching Assistant
What do we aim to do?
As a service we seek to:
- Raise awareness of the service in Redcar & Cleveland in particular to Headteachers and others within school settings, partner organisations, parents and carers.
- Provide support and intervention for pupils identified as having English as an Additional Language needs.
- Assess the language needs of pupils through discussion with the class teacher, and other relevant support staff, as well as by individual assessment.
- Advise schools on the effective provision and appropriate resources for new arrivals and pulpils with E.A.L needs.
- Raise awareness of the contribution that cultural diversity can provide in the school and local community.
- Liaise and exchange good practice with other EAL co-coordinators/teachers from across the Tees Valley and other L.As regionally and nationally.
Who is the service for?
The service is open to all schools in Redcar & Cleveland L.A.
How do we work with schools?
- We work in partnership with Teachers and support staff in primary, secondary schools.
- We provide an initial (either non-verbal or/and verbal) assessment to establish whether the pupil(s) will need support from our service.
- All identified and targeted E.A.L pupils are then assessed on a termly basis using QCA A Language in Common (completed copies are available from the service upon request).
- We provide support and advice for schools, other services and partner organisations.
- The team Leader runs training sessions for GTP students within the GTP programme set out by the Primary and Secondary coordinators.
- The Team Leader offers training sessions for Teaching Assistants and English Teachers upon request from schools.
- We contribute to the induction of newly qualified teachers and anyone else who works within school settings.
- We support Diversity Training and can offer advice to schools on individuals and groups of professionals who can work with schools to promote equality and diversity.
- We provide schools with a variety of resources (artefacts from other countries and bi-lingual books)
How to contact us
Schools can contact Christine Serres, Multicultural Team Leader on:
Mob: 07909 906 503
or: 01642 442 926
Revised September 2010
