Consultation on potential changes to the delivery of the English as an Additional Language Services (EALS) Parents, carers and community stakeholders

Overview

All schools receive funding to support children with EAL, within their budgets.  Each year the Local Authority needs to ask schools if they will continue to fund the EAL Service with this resource so that we can continue to run the service to support them.  We will be consulting with schools in September in order to secure enough funding to continue with this service.  If, by the 30 September 2019, we have not secured sufficient funding from schools to fund the EAL Service, the Local Authority will have to consult with staff on closing the service from 1 April 2020.

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

Why your views matter

If schools do not agree to fund the EAL service by the end of September, then the Local Authority will have to consult with staff to close the EAL Service.  This is because there will not be enough funding to run the Service.  We want to hear your views about this possibility now.  Your views will help us to understand the potential impact if schools make the decision not to fund the service 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:

This consultation runs from 4 September 2019 to 30 November 2019.  We would like to hear from you whether or not you currently use EALS.  We will do all we can to make it as 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.

If you or someone you know would like assistance completing this, please email:

equalityandparticipation@eastsussex.gov.uk

who can assist with arranging a phone call to help people to complete the survey.