The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of teachers, teaching assistants and pupils about small group work for newly arrived EAL pupils. This was a case study of one secondary school with a high intake of newly arrived EAL pupils. At the time, there were several whole school initiatives to address government directives to improve teaching and learning across the curriculum. Two parallel questionnaires were administered to teachers and teaching assistants. 19 teachers and 3 teaching assistants completed the questionnaires. 10 teachers and 2 teaching assistants responded to a request to be interviewed and 13 pupils participated in two focus group discussions. The findings demonstrate that teachers hold positive perceptions about the inclusion of newly arrived EAL pupils in mainstream lessons but are concerned about issues such as the impact on monolingual and advanced bilingual learners, assessment, language and/or content teaching and professional development opportunities for staff. To varying degrees, teachers perceive that small group interaction can support pupils but there are dependent factors. Teaching assistants perceive that small group interaction is beneficial but have highlighted areas for consideration and development. The pupils share mainly positive views about their involvement in small group work and at the same time, identify challenges that they encounter as they try to work with their peers. This study provides an insight into the experiences of newly arrived EAL pupils in mainstream lessons in one school and highlighted areas of concern worth investigating in EAL teaching and learning in mainstream classrooms.