Supporting EAL Pupils

Supporting  pupils who are learning with English as an Additional Language (EAL) and Pupils who are non verbal to Communicate Emotions (with a little help from My Mood Stars).

If you’ve ever looked at a pupil and thought, “I know something’s up, but I’ve no idea what,” you’re not alone.

For pupils learning with EAL and those who are non-verbal, that gap between feeling and expressing can feel enormous. They may understand far more than they can say, but without a safe way to show you how they’re feeling, emotions leak out as “behaviour”, withdrawal, or complete shutdown.

The good news: we can absolutely build bridges for them. And we don’t need anything fancy or complicated – just consistent routines, visual tools, and a lot of patience.

One resource that I have recently started using is My Mood Stars – a set of eight soft, hand-sized plush stars, each showing a different emotion (happy, sad, scared/worried, timid, sleepy, surprised/shocked, silly and angry). They’re designed to be tactile, gender-neutral and race-neutral, so the focus stays on the emotion rather than on the character.

Here’s how you can support your EAL and non-verbal learners to communicate their emotions, using things like My Mood Stars as part of your everyday classroom practice.

1. Start with safety, not vocabulary

Before we think about naming emotions in English, we need pupils to feel safe enough to show them.

• Predictable routines – For pupils who can’t rely on language, visual timetables can be a huge support to them. Using clear images and referring to it constantly can start to create a safe learning environment.
• One key adult – Where possible, have a “go-to” adult for emotion check-ins. For EAL and non-verbal pupils, who they communicate with can matter as much as how.
• Permission to feel – Model that all emotions are allowed: “It’s okay to feel angry. It’s what we do with the anger that matters.”

If a pupil doesn’t feel secure, they won’t risk showing vulnerability – especially if they don’t yet have the words.

This is where My Mood Stars (or similar resources) shine.

2. Make emotions visible (and touchable)

Because the stars are soft and hand-sized, pupils can fiddle with them, hold them close, or wear them as a badge to show how they feel – ideal for children who are non-verbal or reluctant to speak in front of others.

Practical ideas:

• Daily check-in board
  Having a resource where pupils can indicate their emotions is important, such as a visual representation they can put a name label on or photograph of themselves on, or My Mood Stars on a Velcro board by the door. As pupils come in, they can indicate their emotions in a visual way.
  • Pupils who are non verbal They just move their star or name label – no talking needed.
  • Pupil with EAL? You can quietly add the word: “You chose scared. In English, we say I feel scared.”
• Private check-in option
  For pupils who hate attention, let them keep a star in their tray or having an emotion fan with faces showing a range of emotions in their pocket. Agree a system:
  • Angry star/face on the desk = “I need space.”
  • Sad star/face on the desk = “I need an adult to check in when you can.”
• Transition moments
  Use a quick “choose your emotion” moment after playtime, lunch or a tricky lesson. It gives you instant emotional data: who’s dysregulated, who needs a sensory break, who’s ready to learn.

3. Use home languages as a superpower

For pupils learning with EAL, emotions are often already fully formed – just not in English.

You can:

• Label emotions in dual language
  Create a simple display or card set with:
  • The Mood Star picture or cartoon or photograph of the emotion
  • The English word
  • The pupil’s home language word (ask families to help you with this).
• Invite families in
  Send a quick message home: “We’re learning about emotions at school. How would you say ‘worried’, ‘angry’, ‘happy’ at home? Could you record a short voice note?”

Then you can play those recordings when you introduce each emotion or representation – it’s powerful for pupils to hear their own language valued.

• Accept non-verbal + home language responses
  If a pupil points to “sad” and whispers the word in their language, that’s communication. You can respond with the English: “Yes, sad. You’re feeling sad.”

You’re not “forcing” English; you’re gently laying it alongside what they already know.

4. Scaffold from pointing → choosing → naming

Think of emotional literacy for pupils learning with EAL and pupils who are non-verbal as a ladder:

1. Pointing
   • Adult: “Show me which emotion matches how you feel.”
   • Pupil: points or takes a star or image on an emotion fan.
2. Choosing between two
   • Adult: “Do you feel more like happy or worried?” (offer both images/ stars).
   • This reduces cognitive load and gives a forced choice.
3. Gesturing or signing
   • Pair the emotions with simple signs or gestures (e.g., Makaton or your school’s preferred system).
4. Single words / short phrases
   • Adult models: “I feel angry.”
   • Encourage pupils to copy if/when they are ready.
5. Because…”
   • For pupils with more language: “I feel angry because…”
   • You can use sentence stems with visuals to support this.

Don’t rush the ladder. Some pupils will stay at the pointing/choosing stage for a long time – and that’s okay. They’re still communicating.

5. Respond to the emotion, not just the behaviour

Once pupils start using stars or other visuals to share their feelings, we have to show it’s worth the effort.

• If a pupil chooses the angry star and bangs it on the table, you might say: “You’re feeling angry. Thank you for showing me with the star instead of hitting. Let’s find a safe way to help your body calm down.”
• If a child has the timid or worried star before group work: “I see you chose ‘worried’. I’ll sit with you for the first part.”

For non-verbal pupils especially, your consistent responses teach them: “When I show this emotion, adults help me. I don’t have to explode to be noticed.”

6. Keep it playful

Emotion work doesn’t have to be heavy. Build it into games:

• Star stories – Choose two stars and tell a simple story: “Happy Star was playing… then something happened and Angry Star came along…” Pupils act out or choose what happened.
• Guess the emotion– Adult acts out an emotion, pupils choose which star/ image matches.
• Role-play repairs – Use the stars to model saying sorry, asking for help, or taking a break.

Play lowers anxiety and lets pupils try on emotions at a safe distance.

Final thought

For our pupils learning with EAL and pupils who are non verbal, emotions can feel like being stuck in a room with the lights off – they can sense everything, but can’t quite reach the switch.

Tools like My Mood Stars don’t magically fix everything, but they do give pupils something soft and safe to hold onto while they find their way to you.

Your job isn’t to force them to talk.
Your job is to keep offering simple, predictable ways to say: “This is me. This is how I feel. Please listen.”

And you’re already doing more of that than you think.

The author

Wendy White

Wendy is a retired child minder of 25 years. It was whilst Wendy was child minding that her passion for Early Years education developed. Due to shortages of affordable and effective emotion resources online, Wendy decided to create her own emotion resource and My Mood Stars were born!

https://www.wendywoo.uk/

The author

Mr T of Mr T's NQT/ECT support

Mr T of @MrTs_NQTs has been an NQT mentor for the past 10 years and has mentored 16 NQTs during that time. These NQTs have ranged in their abilities but have all been supported to make them the best teacher that they can be, drawing on their individual strengths and personalities. He is currently seeking to support a wider range of teachers in their early career through his twitter feed and continue to support as many teachers as he can to achieve what they are truly capable of.