Teachers need better training to deal with children who are not fluent in English

Schools in areas with little history of immigration are struggling to cope with rising numbers of pupils who do not speak English at home, teachers say.

Other children are getting less attention in class as teachers have to spend longer helping children who do not speak English well and preparing teaching materials for them, they said.

They called for extra funding for support within schools for children who speak English as an additional language (EAL).

Joy Wilson, from Oxfordshire, told the conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers that teachers also needed better training as areas that traditionally had few if any children not fluent in English were now having to cope with large numbers.

She said: “EAL pupils are arriving with increasing complex