Find an EAL tutor for English at school

A child may chat easily with friends but need help understanding a written question or explaining a reason in science. Everyday conversation and the language used for school learning place different demands on English. Being new to English also does not tell you how much a learner understands about a subject.

Bring one recent piece of work and explain what happened: could your child understand the question, say an answer aloud, or write it down? Share their age, previous schooling, languages used at home and interests. A tutor can use this starting point to choose suitable tasks and check listening, speaking, reading and writing separately.

For a primary pupil, a useful priority might be understanding instructions or retelling a story. For a secondary pupil, it might be reading a subject text and explaining its meaning. Keep the topic suitable for their age while making the language easier to follow.

Imagine a primary pupil hears: “Put the red pencil under the book.” They choose the right pencil but place it on top of the book. The difficulty may be the word under, rather than the colour or object name.

Using real objects, an adult can demonstrate on and under, saying each word as the position changes. The child then follows the original instruction. This checks understanding through an action.

Next, try “Put the blue pencil under the box”, using objects and colour words the child already knows. Give time to respond without pointing to the answer. Placing it correctly gives a small sign that they can use the position word in a changed instruction.

This is a constructed example of an EAL teaching approach. The task starts with a specific misunderstanding, makes the meaning visible and checks what the child can do without the demonstration. The Bell Foundation explains how clear instructions and gestures support understanding.

For an older learner practising the language of explanation, use this short constructed passage:

The bridge flooded after heavy rain. The bus could not cross it, so it took a longer route.

Ask: “Why did the bus take a longer route?” A response such as “rain, bridge, bus” picks out relevant words but leaves the reader to work out how they connect.

First, check flooded, cross and route with a sketch of the journey. Talk through the cause and result. Offer the sentence starter “The bus took a longer route because…”, then rehearse the explanation aloud before writing. One clear answer is: “The bus took a longer route because flooding blocked the bridge.”

The better answer links the route change to its cause using because. A next task could use a different passage, with less help from a sentence starter. That tests whether the learner can build their own explanation instead of copying this one.

Teachers call a sentence starter a frame: it provides part of the structure while the learner supplies the meaning. Read The Bell Foundation’s guidance on moving from talk to writing.

You can discuss a school topic, read together and ask your child to explain an idea in the language you know best. This gives them a way to use their existing knowledge while developing English. The Bell Foundation’s guidance for parents encourages families to keep using their home language.

For practice between lessons, choose a small task linked to the current goal: follow an instruction, retell a short passage, or use a new word in a sentence. Let your child attempt it before helping. Keep an early example and a later piece of similar work, noting whether they needed a picture, a sentence starter or a prompt.

Review the skill being practised. A longer answer is not necessarily clearer; completing the same task with less help can be useful evidence of progress. If a task remains difficult, use that information to adjust the teaching or goal.

Latimer offers online one-to-one tuition. Lessons normally use Microsoft Teams, with alternatives by agreement. Before starting, check that your child can hear the tutor, see any pictures or text and show their work. Mention any adjustments they need, such as a slower pace or written instructions alongside spoken ones.

If you prefer in-person lessons, this requires an individual arrangement with a tutor. Discuss location and practical details before relying on that option. For the general booking and payment process, see how Latimer tuition works.