Consultation on potential changes to the English as an Additional Language Service (EALS) - for completion by pupils and students

Overview

(Note:  this is the survey for pupils and students.  If you are a parent/community member please complete the other survey)

In September, schools are deciding how they want to fund the way they support children and young people with English as an Additional Language (EAL) with the money they have for this purpose.  If they decide not to fund the English as an Additional Language Service (EALS), East Sussex County Council will need to propose to close this service from 1 April 2020.  Instead schools will directly provide this support themselves.

If the service does close, the County Council will provide schools with online advice, information and guidance about how best to support pupils and students with EAL in schools and suggest services that can provide translation and interpretation support.

Why your views matter

If schools decide not to fund the EAL service, then the Local Authority will have to consult with staff to close that service.  There will not be enough funding to continue to run the service.  We want to hear your views about the possibility now.  Your views will help us to understand the potential impact and find out what we could do to deal with any worries you may have.  We will share the results of this consultation with schools.

How to take part in this consultation:

The consultation runs from 4 September 2019 to 30 November 2019.  We will do all we can to make it was easy as possible for everyone to have their say.

There are several ways you can give your views:

• by completing the questionnaire online here
• by printing a copy of the questionnaire from here and returning it to us
• by contacting us to request a paper copy of the questionnaire using the details below

Completed surveys can be posted back to us at: Equality and Participation Team, County Hall, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes, BN7 1UE.

If you have a question about this consultation, or need a copy of the information in a different format or another language, please contact us.