AQW 8160/22-27
Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford
Tabled Date: 05/03/2024
Answered On Date: 22/03/2024
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education how he will ensure additional support will be provided in schools for those for whom English is a second language, as recommended in the Children’s Law Centre Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Answer:
Children in schools who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) are supported via the Department’s Supporting Newcomer Pupils policy. Through this, schools are provided with c£1,200 of additional funding per newcomer pupil under the Common Funding Formula. In 2023/24, a total of c£22m was provided to around 770 schools. In addition to this, pupils from the Asylum Seeker and Refugee (ASR) community are supported via The Executive Office’s (TEO) ASR Dispersal Fund. In 2023/24, £795k was provided to schools from this fund with a further £40k available from the UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Schools provide both English as a core curriculum subject as well as EAL support for newcomer pupils until their level of English reaches the level of their peers. All schools signpost newcomer families to sources of additional English language learning in the community, including formal and informal English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classes. The Education Authority provides support for staff working with newcomer children through the co-delivering of an intercultural education course in partnership with Queens University Belfast. Over 350 school-based staff have completed this course since 2017 and the course will run again in September 2024. The Department is currently reviewing its Supporting Newcomer Pupils policy with a view to presenting proposals for my consideration.
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