Bringing the 'global world to P.E.I.': Island schools better prepared for EAL students

When Evelyn Wang moved from China and started atColonelGrayHigh SchoolinCharlottetowna couple of years ago she saidit was a bit overwhelming.

"It is a really unfamiliar environment, so I was kind of nervous when I first came here," saidWang.

She says her English wasn't great but the English as an Additional Language (EAL) programhelped her catch up.

The Public Schools Branchhasbeen making adjustments with school EAL programs across the Island to make it easier for both teachers and the new students.

"For the past 10 years that we have been working in this field, we've seen lots of students come and populate our classrooms from tip to tip, bringing, really, the global world to P.E.I.," saidJanet Perry-Payne, the EALprogram administrator with the Public Schools Branch.

"One thing that we do know is that children learn language, they in many cases ... learn it quite quickly, but they do learn it, over time and they get better, year after year."

The Public Schools Branch tracks immigration data closely across the Island.

There aremore specialised classes and some EAL teachers are set up to be mobile.

"It's teachers that are able to move across the province," Perry-Payne said. "It enables us to respond to needs wherever they might arise."

The Public Schools Branch was challenged at first dealing with so many new students some unable to speak English.

At Colonel Gray, 300 students or35 per cent of the school population arenewcomers.

The school's principal says the springfunding for 25 new EAL positions province-wide has helped.

Student are well supported

"Right now we are managing quite well, the staff seems to be happy and we're just kind of rolling," said DominiqueLecours, principal of ColonelGray.

"As long as we have the staffing to allow for that, we are able to accommodatethe students."

Twelve of the new EAL positions have been given out to various schools so far this year.

Immigration has put a strain on the education system in the past said the P.E.I. Teachers Federation.

"This year, we are very pleased that government did hear our concerns and that they have added more teachers to the system," said Bethany MacLeod, president of PEITF. That allowed the teachers to better meet the needs of all of the students.

Lecourssaid classroom discussions at Colonel Gray are also much better when they include students from all over the world a sentiment echoed by the students.

"Now Ifeel free to communicate with my teachers in every [class],including sciences and math," saidWang.

"I feel like I'm in the school actually part of the school right now. "

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With files from Laura Meader