Pupils
Getting it right for overseas pupils from the start
Helen Wood considers the EAL student experience in independent boarding schools In September 2019, approximately 12,650 new overseas pupils will take up places at independent schools in the UK. Although many of these students will have parents for whom English is not their mother tongue, the children themselves may consider English as their ‘first’ language. This is particularly the case where they have been pursuing their education through the medium of English at a British international school prior to their move to the UK. This does not mean that joining their new school in Britain will necessarily be any easier for these students. Even those with considerable experience of using English in a mainstream educational context can face immense challenges on a linguistic, cultural and emotional level. So, how can schools appropriately frame their admissions policy, curriculum design and pastoral infrastructures for these international pupils to allow them to flourish? And, equally importantly for home and international pupils alike, how can schools ensure a sense of community cohesion, whilst at the same time becoming more diverse?
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Summer 2019
According to Struan Hellier, Head of Boarding at Woodbridge School in Suffolk, these are questions that require vision on the part of senior leaders. ‘We need to be clear why we want overseas pupils. Finances are of course important, but… if we see overseas pupils as a means to an end, inevitably, that is exactly how they will feel.’ For Hellier, this has a strong moral dimension which begins with determining whether the fit is genuinely right for both school and the child wishing to join it. ‘I have seen pupils with almost no English brought into exam classes, for example. With the best will in the world, unless a school is very specifically set up to cater for such students, the chances of effective integration, either academically or socially, are very limited.’ Dr Hilary Laver, Director of Admissions at Cheltenham Ladies College agrees, stressing that ‘the closer an overseas applicant joins to exam years, the more critical it is they have the language skills to get them off to a good start.’ In order to ensure that their applicants will thrive, Laver gathers information on
