Working with EAL Families & Interpreters

The first mistake settings make with EAL families is treating language as the problem. Language isn't the problem — access is. And access starts with a welcome that doesn't depend on shared words.

What EAL families notice on arrival:

• Whether you smile at them or look through them.
• Whether you take extra time or make them feel like a burden.
• Whether their home language shows up anywhere in the setting — posters, welcomes, books — or not at all.
• Whether you assume they can't read English at all, or assume they can read fluently. Both extremes wrong.

Names — the single most important detail.

• Ask how the parent's name is pronounced. Ask how the child's name is pronounced. Say it back to check.
• Write it phonetically in your notes so the whole team pronounces it correctly.
• Never Anglicise a name for convenience. “I'll just call him Andy” when his name is Andrzej is a small thing that lands as disrespect over time.

• I slow down my speech without dumbing it down
• I give 3–5 extra seconds for a response, without filling the silence
• I ask how names are pronounced and never Anglicise for convenience

An interpreter isn't a nice-to-have. For any significant conversation with a family whose English is limited, using a professional interpreter is the difference between informed consent and paperwork the family signed without understanding.

Which interpreter to book:

• Professional, DBS-checked, working for a registered agency. Not a friend, not a family member (especially not the older child), not a random bilingual staff member unless properly checked.
• Match the specific language / dialect. Punjabi and Urdu are different. Somali dialects vary. Cantonese is not Mandarin. Get it right.
• Gender-match where the topic is sensitive. A woman disclosing about a pregnancy or a health matter may not open up to a male interpreter, and vice versa. Ask.
• Face-to-face or Language Line phone service. Face-to-face for major conversations, Language Line acceptable for shorter ones or when face-to-face isn't feasible.

The 5-point interpreter briefing (before the meeting starts):

1. What the meeting is for and who's attending.
2. Any technical or safeguarding terms that will come up. Make sure they're comfortable translating them accurately.
3. The interpreter's role: word-for-word interpretation, not summarisation. Not offering their own opinions. Not editing what the family says to be more polite.
4. Confidentiality — they don't discuss the family outside the meeting.
5. Physical setup: interpreter sits slightly to one side, not between you and the family. You talk to the family, not to the interpreter.

Translated documents. Key documents (welcome pack, allergen policy, sickness policy, incident forms) available in the top 3–5 languages spoken by JLK families. Ask each family: “do you prefer to read this in English or in [home language]?” Never assume.

• I know the JLK “interpreter needed” list — especially SEND, safeguarding, incidents, contracts
• I never use a child as an interpreter for their own family
• I run the 5-point briefing with the interpreter before the meeting
• I ask what language documents the family prefers — I don't assume

An EAL child's home language is a strength, not a barrier. Every study of early bilingualism shows the same thing: children who keep their home language while learning English do BETTER in the long run than children who lose their home language. Our job is to protect both.

Practical ways to welcome home language in a JLK room:

• Ask each family for 5–10 key words in their home language: hello, please, thank you, drink, toilet, mummy, daddy, more, tired, hungry. Written phonetically. Every staff member learns them.
• Home-language books available. Ask the family to bring a favourite book from home in the home language. Add to the book corner.
• Audio recordings. A parent can record themselves singing a familiar rhyme or reading a short story in the home language. Play it at snack time or during quiet moments.
• Home-language name cards at the peg alongside English.
• Welcome poster in all the home languages spoken by families in the room. Same wording as in English.
• Bilingual staff visible where possible. If a JLK staff member speaks the home language, tell the family — even if that staff member isn't the key person. It matters.

Parent conversation about home language. Some families feel they should switch to English at home to help the child “keep up.” This actually harms bilingual development. Reassure warmly:

• I know 5–10 home-language words for at least one EAL family in my room
• Our room has home-language books, name cards, or welcome poster for the families in it
• I understand the silent period — not a delay, just absorbing
• I actively encourage families to keep speaking their home language at home

Zaynab is 2 and starts next week. Her mother, Kalthoum, has arrived for the settling-in meeting. She speaks Somali fluently, English limited. Nobody at JLK speaks Somali. She's brought her older daughter, aged 10.

Reveal JLK response

Step 1 — Welcome warmly. Learn hello (“iska warran” or “nabad” roughly). Say it. Smile. Take time.

Step 2 — The 10-year-old is not the interpreter. Warmly explain (with visuals/simple English): “For today's meeting, we're going to book a professional interpreter so we can talk properly. It's what we do for every family. Can we book it for [day and time]? Meanwhile shall we all go and see Zaynab's room? [older sister]'s welcome to come too.”

Step 3 — Do the visual tour today. Show the room, the routines, the food, the sleep area. Photos on the phone. Point, mime, warm smiles. Kalthoum walks away with a clear sense of the setting even without full conversation.

Step 4 — Book the interpreter for the full settling meeting. Somali — specify dialect if Kalthoum can confirm which. Face-to-face for a first proper meeting. Language Line acceptable if face-to-face isn't feasible within a few days.

Step 5 — At the settling meeting itself: the JLK 5-point interpreter briefing before Kalthoum arrives. Meeting held with Kalthoum only if possible (older daughter can wait in the calm area or with a staff member) so Kalthoum can speak freely.

Step 6 — Documents. Ask which language Kalthoum wants written materials in. Provide Somali versions of the welcome pack, allergen policy, sickness policy.

Step 7 — For the room. Ask Kalthoum for 10 key words in Somali. Ask if she has a favourite book at home she'd like to bring. Ask if she'd record a rhyme for us to play.

What you don't do: use the older daughter as interpreter. Speak only to the daughter. Rush the meeting. Skip the full interpreted follow-up because “we got by today”.

• I never use a child as an interpreter for their own family
• I know how to run a first-visit warmly even without a shared language, and how to book the interpreter for the follow-up