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Yet beneath the impressive statistics is a deeper story about the success of the school's English as an Additional Language (EAL) programme.As an independent international school based in central London, Halcyon welcomes students from far-flung countries, supporting and embracing EAL students. This commitment is best illustrated by students like recent graduate Artur, who arrived from Ukraine in Grade 9 barely able to speak English and graduated with a perfect score of 45. He is now studying Mechanical Engineering at University College London (UCL).Artur's achievement reflects an integrated school-wide commitment to supporting multilingual learners. The programme's success reflects deliberate professional development. EAL leader Ms. Fairweather connected Halcyon with WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) to train teachers across all subjects, whereby everyone is considered an English teacher, whether they're teaching biology, mathematics, or any other subject "When I arrived from Ukraine, I had limited English-speaking skills—reading was much easier for me than speaking," says Artur. "But through the English Plus programme, I've been truly nourished and supported every step of the way. The teacher-to-student ratio couldn't be better, which means teachers can provide personalised guidance tailored specifically to help you improve."The English Plus programme allocates three hours per week to dedicated English instruction, but language support extends across the curriculum. That is to say, all teachers are actively trained to support EAL, but students also learn and grow together, sharing similar paths of arriving to Halcyon from different parts of the world.English acquisition has also opened doors to broader learning. Artur credits the IB programme with teaching research skills, citation methods, and analytical thinking while developing personal discipline. "You don't need to be ultra smart, it teaches you efficiency," he notes. "No one will force you, but you have to find the time and do it yourself."The programme's impact has numerous success stories. Another example is Sho, a 2024 graduate who arrived from Japan speaking what he describes as "only broken English" but excelled in the IB programme and is now studying Economics at The London School Of Economics (LSE).Like Artur, Sho emphasises that authentic conversation with peers and teachers across Halcyon proved more valuable than grammar exercises alone."For me, learning through grammar was important, but the best way, the most efficient way, was by having real-life conversations with teachers and students," he explains. "Without having these conversations and using the language, you can't truly learn it."Learning English also sparked his curiosity about other languages. "I found a love for learning languages. Because I speak Japanese, I realised that I could grasp Mandarin. And understanding the origin of characters in Mandarin changed my view on the Japanese language." He plans to learn Spanish independently after graduation, recognizing that "you have to be able to speak the language to build deep relationships."Language instruction represents one of the largest staffing investments in international schools—at Halcyon, our not-for-profit structure enables us to funnel resource into a world-class languages programme, this includes English Plus, two languages, and mother tongue tuition. However, effective multilingual support doesn't require unlimited resources. It demands an integrated whole-school approach: collaborative teaching methods, cross-subject analysis of student progress, and regular vocabulary monitoring to ensure multilingual learners advocate for themselves and use technology effectively.Artur's perfect score and Sho's success demonstrate what becomes possible when schools treat linguistic diversity as an asset rather than a deficit.Their success stories illustrate that with appropriate support, students can maintain connections to their heritage languages while achieving academic excellence in English—creating graduates who are genuinely prepared for an interconnected world.

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