English As An
Additional Language

At Horsham West and Haven Primary School, we are proud of our diverse and multicultural school community. Many of our students speak a language other than English at home, and we value the rich languages, cultures, and experiences they bring to our school.

Our school is the coordinating school for the Wimmera EAL Cluster, a Department of Education program that supports English as an Additional Language (EAL) students and families across schools in and around the Wimmera region. The program helps schools provide high-quality support for students who are learning English while also learning new classroom content.

The EAL Cluster works closely with teachers to support effective teaching strategies, share resources, and ensure students are supported in their language learning journey. We understand that learning English takes time — research indicates it can take 7 years for a student to learn English for academic purposes. Schools are guided in their use of the Victorian EAL Curriculum, and where appropriate, students are assessed and reported against this framework to ensure their progress is recognised and valued. Our approach focuses on helping students feel confident, included, and successful at school.

We also encourage families to continue using their home language at home. Speaking, reading, and writing in a first language support strong language development, learning success, and a positive sense of identity. Research consistently shows that maintaining a home language supports stronger outcomes in English learning as well. For more information about the benefits of being bilingual, visit https://www.vic.gov.au/speak-your-child-language-you-know-best

Through the Wimmera EAL Cluster, we are proud to support our students as they develop their English skills while celebrating the cultural and linguistic diversity of our school community.

For further resources for EAL, visit the EAL resources to support the EAL curriculum eal-resources-diagram-1175 (education.vic.gov.au)

Languages other than English are spoken in our Horsham West Community

Cebuano, Turkish, Malayalam, Dinka, Hindi, Yoruba, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Gujarati, Karen, Afrikaans, and Nepali