Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and Engagement in Design & Technology, PE, RE, Art, Geography, History, Modern Foreign Language, Music
DfES (2002)
This series of guidance documents provides ITE tutors with a useful tool for ensuring that student teachers and trainees are aware of the range of different classroom situations they may encounter and of the range of strategies available for differentiation. The documents need to be used in conjunction with an introduction to theory and research in the field.
Each Access and Engagement document covers one area of the curriculum at KS3. They aim to enable teachers to integrate learners of EAL into all subject lessons, both "to develop their understanding and use of the English language" and "to enhance their learning in... the appropriate subject".
Each document is divided into two sections, the first one aimed at supporting subject leaders in providing guidance to their department. This section is based on current research (although the references are only provided in the MFL document) and focuses on certain key issues such as the development of academic language, the use of first language and the importance of flexible groupings in the classroom.
The second part of the document provides teaching strategies which focus on planning for the different range of needs of pupils at different stages of learning English in the mainstream classroom. The documents are all very similar in structure and in the advice provide.
The MFL guidance is the only one that provides substantial examples of practice; it also draws out the similarities in FLE and EAL pedagogy.
To view the guidance documents for each Foundation Subject click on links below.
Click on link below for a full description and evaluation of the document by Richard Barwell (Teaching Learners of English: A review of Official Guidance, NALDIC 2004), who has noted that the document is useful to teachers of all subjects.
Raymonde Sneddon
University of East London
