Student Learning Support 

Working collaboratively with parents, students, and teachers, our Learning Support Facilitator and Learning Support Assistants have one overarching goal — to ensure that every child who comes to us with a learning challenge finishes strong. 

We support students in Early Years through MYP 5, seeking to identify the unique learning needs of each student and then designing and delivering targeted solutions that help every child reach their highest potential. 

In Early Years and Primary, Learning Support Assistants serve students both with and without a diagnosed learning difficulty, whereas Learning Support Assistants in the Secondary typically serve students with a learning disability formally diagnosed by a psychologist. 

Learning Support takes two forms at EIS 

• Indirect Services: We provide teachers with instructional strategies to use regularly in the classroom to better support students who display the need for support but may not come to a learning specialist directly. 
• Direct Services: We work with students in small groups, either inside or outside of the classroom, depending on their needs, the intervention being performed, and the atmosphere and dynamics of the classroom. 

Overarching services: We participate in the Student Support Teams to ensure the whole child is supported and interventions are collaborative. We also offer parents coaching, tools, and resources for offering their children learning support at home. EIS works in partnership with Esbjerg Kommune’s district-appointed educational physiologists and speech therapists. 

We find tremendous joy and satisfaction in helping parents and students recognize that learning differences don’t have to be barriers to success.  

Mother-tongue Language Support 

EIS is an international community with students and faculty representing over 50 nationalities. Our classrooms, hallways, and student lounges are filled with the sounds of lively conversations in many languages. 

Mother-tongue is a child’s first or native language and has a vital part to play in the development of language skills. At EIS, we celebrate a wonderfully diverse range of mother-tongue languages spoken in our community. We aim to work in partnership with parents to maintain and develop mother-tongue language and literacy skills for all students. 

Our mother-tongue support includes: 

• Mother-tongue classes within the curriculum in the Middle Years Programmes. 
• Mother-tongue engagements in the Primary Years Programme are structured around celebrations of identity and values. 
• Mother-tongue clubs within the extra-curricular and activities programmes  
• Providing parents with information regarding mother-tongue programmes available in the local community 
• Recognising and celebrating the various mother-tongue languages within the school 

Mother-tongue resources in the library 

English as an Additional Language 

In the English as an Additional Language (EAL) program, our goal is to ensure that students improve their English proficiency so they can reach their highest academic achievement levels at EIS. 

We work closely with students, parents, and teachers to identify each child’s needs and tailor our lessons and teaching methods to support each child’s development of English language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). 

Perhaps most importantly, we provide a safe and secure environment in which students feel comfortable and supported as they gain greater English proficiency. 

For beginners, this is a pull-out program. As students progress in their English knowledge, the EAL teacher may support them in the classroom in addition to the differentiated strategies delivered by the subject/homeroom teacher.