.svg){kind=small}
September 10, 2026
Last updated: August 2026
Quality preschools support a child learning English as an additional language by treating their home language as a genuine strength rather than something to work around, by building a culturally safe and welcoming environment under the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), and by giving children plenty of rich, one-to-one and small-group time with English throughout the day. In New South Wales, "English as an additional language or dialect", usually shortened to EAL/D, is formally a school-age term, with specialist EAL/D teachers and dedicated funding in the public school system. Long day care and preschool don't have a direct equivalent, but the same underlying idea, valuing a child's first language while supporting their English, sits inside the EYLF and the National Quality Standard (NQS) that every approved NSW early learning service must follow.
Castle Hill and the Hills District are home to families from a huge range of language backgrounds, and it's a genuinely common question on a preschool tour: how will educators support my child if English isn't the main language spoken at home? This guide explains what EAL/D actually means, why supporting a child's home language matters just as much as building their English, what quality support looks like day to day, and what to ask when you visit a service. It's one part of the bigger picture covered in our guide to choosing the right preschool in Castle Hill, and Kings Road Long Day Preschool is one of many local centres working with multilingual families as a matter of course.
English as an additional language or dialect describes a child whose first language, or first dialect, is something other than Standard Australian English, and who is still building proficiency in it. The NSW Department of Education runs a formal EAL/D system in public schools: specialist EAL/D teachers, a funded English language proficiency equity loading, and structured support that scales with how many EAL/D students a school has.
That system is built for schools. Early learning services don't have EAL/D teachers or the same funding mechanism, and a preschool that tells you it runs an "EAL/D programme" is likely describing something informal, not a recognised scheme. What every approved NSW service does have, though, is the Early Years Learning Framework, which sits underneath the National Quality Standard and applies to every long day care centre and preschool in the state, Kings Road Long Day Preschool included. The EYLF's own principles do the same job the school system's EAL/D structure does, just without a separate label.
A child's home language carries their sense of identity, their connection to family, and a good chunk of their thinking and problem-solving ability, so supporting it is part of the same job as building English. The EYLF's "Respect for diversity" principle asks educators to acknowledge the histories, cultures, languages and traditions of every family, and links that directly to National Quality Standard elements on curriculum decision-making and on respecting the expertise and culture of families.
Researchers increasingly describe this as a strength-based approach. Instead of picturing a child's languages as separate "silos," each one waiting to be filled up with English, it helps to think of them as building one flexible language toolkit they draw on however the moment calls for it. Early Childhood Australia notes that educators who actively encourage children to use more than one language support English learning as well as home-language development, not one at the expense of the other.
This isn't an abstract concern in the Hills District. At the 2021 Census, 27.6% of the Australian population was born overseas, and the most common languages spoken at home other than English nationally were Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Punjabi. Castle Hill and its surrounding suburbs reflect that same diversity, which is a large part of why local preschools and long day care services work with multilingual families every day, not as an occasional exception.
No, and this is one of the most persistent myths in early language development. Raising Children Network is direct on this point: bilingual children reach the same developmental milestones as children who only speak one language, and speaking more than one language does not cause a speech delay. What it can do is strengthen family bonds, support a child's cultural identity, and build thinking and literacy skills that carry over between languages.
Two common approaches exist for families raising a multilingual child: "one parent, one language," where each parent consistently uses their own language with the child, and "one environment, one language," where the home language is used consistently at home and English is picked up through school, care and the wider community. Neither is more "correct" than the other, and Raising Children Network even publishes its bilingual-family guide translated into ten community languages, including Arabic, Vietnamese, Persian and Simplified Chinese, which says something about how mainstream this experience actually is for Australian families.
In a quality service, support for a multilingual child shows up in small, everyday details, not a separate programme bolted on the side. Educators who know a few key words or greetings in a child's home language, who ask families about their child's background as part of enrolment instead of assuming, and who build in plenty of one-to-one and small-group conversation give a child real chances to use and build their English without losing what they already have.
Under the National Quality Standard, this sits mainly across two Quality Areas: QA1 (Educational program and practice), where each child's culture, strengths and current abilities are meant to form the foundation of what educators plan, and QA6 (Collaborative partnerships with families and communities), where a family's culture, values and views are respected and families share in decisions about their child's learning. A service that's genuinely doing this well doesn't need to call it anything special; it's simply how the EYLF is meant to work for every child.
A few direct questions on a tour will tell you far more than a brochure.
Not formally. EAL/D is a NSW school-system term with its own specialist teachers and funding. Long day care and preschool services support multilingual children through the Early Years Learning Framework instead, which covers the same underlying idea without the school system's specific structure.
No. Bilingual and multilingual children reach the same developmental milestones as children who speak only English, and keeping a strong home language alongside English supports rather than slows their overall development.
There's no evidence that helps, and it risks weakening your child's home language and family connection for no real gain. Keep speaking your home language at home; your child will have plenty of opportunities to build English at preschool and, later, at school.
No. Many children start preschool with little or no English and build it naturally through play, routine and everyday conversation with educators and other children.
That's common, and it doesn't mean your child won't be well supported. A warm, EYLF-based programme that values your family's culture and gives your child rich English interaction still works well. It's still worth asking whether translated materials or an interpreter are available for enrolment conversations.
Ask directly on a tour, using the questions above, and notice whether the answers are specific to how the service operates or feel like a rehearsed line.
Kings Road Long Day Preschool has served an inclusive, multicultural Castle Hill community since 1989, and welcomes families regardless of faith or cultural background. The Learning for Life approach and the Three Rs, starting with Respect, sit underneath everyday practice in both the Wallaby and Kangaroo classes, and it's a small centre by design, so educators get to know each child and family instead of working from a generic plan. Letting educators know about your child's home language and background as part of enrolment helps them build that relationship from day one. Kings Road Long Day Preschool has been assessed as Meeting the National Quality Standard.
Ready to see it for yourself? Book a tour to meet the educators and ask these questions in person, or get in touch if you have questions before you visit.
