We are an academy in the heart of Hounslow, west London. I would like to share with you elements of our context statement to describe our school. What we are seeking are volunteers who could work with our EAL (English as Additional Language) students to support their acquisition of English to enable them to access the mainstream curriculum as quickly as possible.

• The majority of students joining the academy in Year 7 come with below average levels of English and maths.
• We take from about 40 different Hounslow primaries, but many students arrive from other countries: 76% are EAL which is  significantly above average (14%).
• The school has significantly fewer higher and middle attainers than national average (11% to 31% and 18% to 35% respectively).
• Referrals for special needs support  are an ongoing process due to the high number of students arriving from non European countries without data, information about their needs or level of English sufficient for accurate assessment . 
• Disadvantaged students are above national average.  The large majority of our EAL students, despite facing high levels of deprivation, are not entitled to free school meals or other benefits.  This is because not all refugees have "recourse to public funds", especially those who are being supported under section 4: those who arrived as unaccompanied minors and have had the good fortune of finding a family member who took them in (we have at least one case) and  those whose parent, having arrived  earlier, sponsored the whole family (as it is the case of our Syrian students and others). Newly arrived families, who are "economic migrants"  need to jump through many hoops before they are  eventually  entitled to any kind of benefit including Child  Benefit, Tax Credits, etc. In some cases we have a single parent working as a cleaner providing for 3 children!  
• The EAL coordinator writes: ‘Most of our EAL students are resilient and will do whatever it takes to stay in school but there are implications not just to their welfare but also to their achievement and attendance’.
• The vast majority of EAL students enter at stage 2 and 3. The key minority ethnic group varies year to year. Currently there are over 40 different languages with Polish and Konkani speakers being the biggest group combined.
• Early stage learners of English Stage 1& 2 are now nearly a third of the whole school (32%); 26% are
• Stage 3 Over 57% of students currently on roll were mid-term arrivals, most coming from abroad; in year 10 they are at least 70% of the cohort