At ACS Egham International School a group of teachers is participating on a course called TESMC (Teaching ESL Students in Mainstream Classrooms: Language in Learning across the Curriculum).

These teachers are looking for a whole-school approach to teaching and learning that acknowledges the fundamental relationship between language and learning.  The goal being, to develop teaching practices that further the achievement of all students – including English Language Learners, known at Egham International School as EAL students.

This professional development program has proved outstandingly successful in enhancing the qualifications and classroom practice of teachers who work with students from non-English speaking backgrounds (EAL). This includes students of all ages from a vast range of language and cultural backgrounds.

Ten teachers from ACS Egham International School are participating in this intensive course, which includes the following modules:

• EAL students and learning in a second language
• Language and learning and the role of scaffolding
• Oral language: how the task shapes the talk
• Using oral language: interpreting and producing oral texts- ‘talk as performance’
• Working with written and visual texts
• Working with written and visual texts at the text level
• Developing knowledge of genre and language at the language level
• Assessing written texts
• Programming and whole school
• Models of support for EAL

On successful completion of the course participants will be awarded the ESL in the Mainstream certificate, which is well recognized in both State and International education. 

This initiative began in our school after two ACS Egham teachers trained as TESMC tutors.  Carol Milner and Rachel Cockcroft followed an intensive five-day professional development program for teachers.  They have since become school-based tutors, providing ACS Egham with a school-managed professional development initiative which provides teachers working across the curriculum with successful classroom strategies for improving the learning achievement of all their students with a focus on their ESL learners.

What the participants have said about the program:

“This course has really helped me appreciate the perspective of EAL students and has increased my confidence in designing learning experiences for them. Very interesting to see how it works in Middle and High School. “

Jenny Thompson   (Kindergarten)

“It is good to have strategies and techniques that you already use in the classroom reaffirmed. It is even better to be given new ideas to improve your teaching and assessment.”

Lousie McQuade  (Grade 5 teacher)

“I have a diploma in TESL and thought I knew it all really. But this course has opened my eyes and ears to new and fresh research, methods and applications. I’ll be using these from now on with my EAL students in the mainstream.”

Judith Vaughan  (Integrated Arts, Lower School)

“This course has helped me continue to establish a  supportive and creative learning environment for my EAL students . It has given me new ideas to focus on my teaching and assessment of students.”

Jason  Zettler  (Humanities, Middle School)

“Despite having a qualification in ESL, I  was amazed by the depth of this course. ESL in the Mainstream provided me with a wealth of new ideas, and an even deeper understanding of what it would be like to walk in the footsteps of a non-native English speaking student.”

Gabriel English (Spanish, HighSchool)