Continued Professional Development (CPD) 2024-2025 - Print version

Including Newly Arrived Pupils: Planning and support in the classroom

Newly Arrived pupils need time to settle at school, acquire basic English and learn how to fit in. This course will enable practitioners to build a whole school approach to welcoming new arrivals and gain an understanding of potential barriers to learning. We will explore how to plan for an inclusive environment and ensure key staff are confident and equipped with strategies to engage new arrivals from the outset!

This session is fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

Developing an Induction programme for newly arrived learners using English as an additional language (Primary)

Newly arrived pupils may benefit from a time-limited induction programme when they start school. Support may be more effective if a structured programme is in place. This may cover key vocabulary and language structures to support survival language, language of the playground/canteen, language of maths/science as well as basic literacy skills. A good induction programme will help pupils settle and orientate in their new environments. This is an opportunity to share and hear best practice from colleagues to enable you to develop your own bespoke induction programmes.

This session is fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

Tuesday 24 September

3.30pm - 5pm

Developing an Induction programme for newly arrived learners using English as an additional language (Secondary)

Newly arrived pupils may benefit from a time-limited induction programme when they start school. Support may be more effective if a structured programme is in place. This may cover key vocabulary and language structures to support survival language, language of the playground/canteen, language of maths/science as well as basic literacy skills. A good induction programme will help pupils settle and orientate in their new environments. This is an opportunity to share and hear best practice from colleagues to enable you to develop your own bespoke induction programmes.

Thursday 26 September

3.30pm - 5pm

Schools of Sanctuary

A School of Sanctuary educates the whole school community about the experiences and realities of people who have been forced to flee to foster empathy and understanding. Join this session to explore how your school can foster a culture of welcome and safety for people seeking sanctuary, we will also share ideas for connecting with and supporting local refugee organisations and go through the application process discussing the eight criteria that schools must fulfil in order to be recognised as a School of Sanctuary.

Tuesday 1 October

3.30pm - 5pm

EAL Co-ordinators: Best Practice

This session will equip you to co-ordinate EAL work in your school with a whole-school approach. It focuses on analysing your data, creating successful whole-school induction systems for new EAL pupils as well as assessment, target setting and tracking progress to raise the achievement of EAL pupils linked to school improvement. You will have the chance to hear from experienced colleagues on how to plan, prioritise and develop expertise in meeting the language and learning needs of bilingual children in your schools

Thursday 10 October

3.30pm - 5pm

Assessment, tracking progress and target setting of EAL learners (Primary)

Tuesday 22 October

3.30pm - 5pm

Assessment, tracking progress and target setting of EAL learners (Secondary)

Learners of EAL in your school make up a diverse group with a wide range of language skills and prior educational experiences, and time of arrival into the English school system. This session will help you evaluate your current practice and adopt processes for English language proficiency assessment of pupils learning EAL to improve your understanding of the language learning needs of EAL pupils and develop appropriate targeted support.

Wednesday 23 October

3.30pm - 5pm

Tuesday 12 November

1pm - 3pm

Wednesday 13 November

1pm - 3pm

Assessment, tracking progress and target setting of EAL learners (Secondary)- Rescheduled

Learners of EAL in your school make up a diverse group with a wide range of language skills and prior educational experiences, and time of arrival into the English school system. This session will help you evaluate your current practice and adopt processes for English language proficiency assessment of pupils learning EAL to improve your understanding of the language learning needs of EAL pupils and develop appropriate targeted support.

Thursday 14th November

3.30pm - 5pm

Assessment, tracking progress and target setting of EAL learners (Primary)- Rescheduled

Wednesday 20 November

3.30pm - 5pm

Working with Multilingual learners in EYFS

Effective practice can ensure that bilingual and multilingual learners in our Early Years Settings progress well in all areas of learning. This session will cover areas such as building positive relationships with parents of EAL learners, the importance of home language, creating a multicultural and welcoming classroom environment, planning for development of language and tracking progress of English proficiency.

This session is fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

Tuesday 26 November

3.30pm - 5pm

The Importance of supporting home language qualifications at GCSE

Join our information session to share your experience of entering newly arrived and more advanced EAL learners for their community language GCSE qualifications. This is a recognised way of celebrating bilingualism and extending career pathways, particularly for late arrivals in KS4. Colleagues will be talking through the process of selecting, preparing, and entering learners who use EAL for their community language GCSEs and the benefits and challenges that may arise. We hope that you can come along to join in discussions.

Exam Officers

Community School Teachers

Tuesday 14 January

3.30pm - 5pm

Effective communication with new communities for admin and reception (front of house) staff

It is important that our EAL families feel welcomed and included in the school community. This course will cover some concrete and practical ways in which staff can support parents in the initial days. Collecting appropriate data, providing comprehensible information about the school, conducting initial meetings and highlighting the importance of home language will be just some of the areas covered in this session.

Wednesday 15 January

10.30am - 12noon

Healing Classrooms

Using guidance and materials from the International Rescue Committee, this half-day session aims to give an introduction to trauma-informed teaching and inform school staff on how to help resettle children who are refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.  The session is split into 3 workshops: Preparing a Safe Place to Land, Building a Community for Learning and Fostering Academic Success.  Discover tools and strategies to help refugees heal and learn,

EAL/Inclusion/Pastoral

Leads, Classroom teachers

Face to face at One Friargate Rm 1.5

Wednesday 22 January

9am - 12.30pm

Supporting Multilingual learners in Maths at Primary

In this session, we shall explore ways to make the maths lesson accessible for EAL learners at all levels of English proficiency. We will look at a range of strategies such as models and images, reasoning, and problem-solving skills and planning for language and promoting talk to develop fluency. Will we also consider the use of first language for concept development and differences in the way maths operates/is taught around the world.

Thursday 30 January

3.30pm - 5pm

Supporting Multilingual learners using AI in the classroom and beyond

We will be exploring the use of AI with multilingual learners both in the classroom and as a tool for communication with new arrivals and their families. Beki Auld, EAL coordinator and Year 4 class teacher at Southfields Primary School and Lewis Smith, EAL Coordinator and English teacher at Barr’s Hill Secondary School, will be sharing the strategies and resources that they use in the classroom and beyond.

Thursday 6 February

3.30pm - 5pm

Comprehensible English for New Arrivals Using EAL (See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) (Primary)

(see our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ethnic-minority-achievement-service-emas/continued-professional-development-cpd/3]

Wednesday 12 February

3.30pm - 5pm

Comprehensible English for New Arrivals Using EAL (See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) (Secondary)

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ethnic-minority-achievement-service-emas/continued-professional-development-cpd/3]

Refugee Week: Planning and Inspiration

Refugee week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20 June. This year, Refugee Week is 16th-22nd June 2024. In the UK, Refugee Week is a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities. During this session, you will have the opportunity to learn more about what Refugee Week entails, receive Refugee Week teaching and learning materials and listen to colleagues across the city talk about their past celebrations and future plans. This should inform you in planning your own Refugee Week celebration in your school or setting to raise awareness of the journeys made and experiences encountered by refugees and asylum seekers.

Thursday 6 March

3.30pm - 5pm

English as an additional language and Special Educational Needs

When a child learning English as an additional language makes slow progress in school, it can be difficult to establish whether the delay is caused because they are not confident using the language of the school or because they have additional learning needs independent of the language barrier. Similarly, language differences may mask the potential and ability of gifted or more able learners. Join us to discover more about the process of distinguishing whether an EAL learner may have additional language or learning needs.

Thursday 20 March

3.30pm - 5pm

The Bell Foundation; Adaptive Teaching for Learners using EAL for primary colleagues. (See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ethnic-minority-achievement-service-emas/continued-professional-development-cpd/3]

Tuesday 25 March

The Bell Foundation: Adaptive Teaching for Learners using EAL for secondary colleagues. (See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ethnic-minority-achievement-service-emas/continued-professional-development-cpd/3]

Wednesday 26 March

3.30pm - 5pm

Supporting Writing skills of multilingual learners for secondary colleagues

This training course focuses on highly effective writing strategies that support the development of writing skills of EAL learners from ‘new to English’ to more advanced multilingual learners. The training synthesises existent EAL writing strategies from different educational platforms and is an opportunity to share best practice and explore multimodal ways to support EAL learners’ writing skills.

Please note the change of date from 28/11/24 to 11/12/24 and from 11/12/24 to 05/06/25

Thursday 5 June

3.30pm - 5pm

Accelerating Progress for Multilingual Learners Beyond New Arrivals for primary

This session will enable school staff to identify and meet the needs of more advanced multilingual learners. Pupils who have had all or most of their education in the UK and whose oral proficiency in English is usually indistinguishable from that of English monolingual learners may still require guidance in accessing and producing high quality academic writing. We will demonstrate how to support EAL learners to work with challenging texts and improve writing, exam techniques and outcomes.

Tuesday 6 May 3.30pm - 5pm

Accelerating Progress for Multilingual Learners Beyond New Arrivals for secondary

This session will enable school staff to identify and meet the needs of more advanced multilingual learners. Pupils who have had all or most of their education in the UK and whose oral proficiency in English is usually indistinguishable from that of English monolingual learners may still require guidance in accessing and producing high quality academic writing. We will demonstrate how to support EAL learners to work with challenging texts and improve writing, exam techniques and outcomes.

Thursday 8 May

3.30pm - 5pm

The importance of Speaking and Listening for EAL learners in the classroom (Primary)

In this session we shall explore talk in the classroom and its importance in enabling EAL learners to acquire and practise new language thereby supporting the development of their reading and writing skills.

Classroom practitioners,

EAL leads

Tuesday 20 May

3.30pm - 5pm

The importance of Speaking and Listening for EAL learners in the classroom (Secondary)

In this session we shall explore talk in the classroom and its importance in enabling EAL learners to acquire and practise new language thereby supporting the development of their reading and writing skills.

Classroom Practitioners

EAL leads

Thursday 22 May

3.30pm - 5pm

Supporting Reading Skills of Multilingual learners for primary colleagues

This session will cover how to support the reading skills of both newly arrived and more advanced bilingual learners in the classroom, covering before reading, during reading and after reading activities to encourage learners to engage with curriculum texts, improve retrieval skills and develop their comprehension and fluency. We will also look at possible reading interventions and the importance of vocabulary development.

Classroom Practitioners

EAL leads

Wednesday 11 June

3.30pm - 5pm

Supporting Reading Skills of Multilingual learners for secondary colleagues

This session will cover how to support the reading skills of both newly arrived and more advanced bilingual learners in the classroom, covering before reading, during reading and after reading activities to encourage learners to engage with curriculum texts, improve retrieval skills and develop their comprehension and fluency. We will also look at possible reading interventions and the importance of vocabulary development.

Classroom Practitioners

EAL leads

Thursday 12 June

3.30pm - 5pm

Language Awareness for the Classroom (Secondary) (See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ethnic-minority-achievement-service-emas/continued-professional-development-cpd/3]

Classroom Practitioners

EAL leads

Thursday 26 June

3.30pm - 5pm

Autumn Term EAL Co-ordinators

Primary

Face to Face

Moseley Primary School

Tuesday 19 November

4:00-5:30pm

Autumn Term EAL Co-ordinators

Secondary

Face to Face

Grace Academy 

Thursday 21 November

4:00-5:30pm

Spring Term EAL Co-ordinators

Secondary

Face to Face

Barr's Hill School

Wednesday 9 April

4:00pm-5:30pm

Spring Term EAL Co-ordinators

Primary

Face to Face

Location to be confirmed

Thursday 10 April

4:00pm-5:30pm

Summer Term EAL Co-ordinators

Primary and Secondary

Thursday 3 July

3:30pm-5pm

Leading a whole school strategy for EAL

This session is for school leaders who are seeking innovative ways to drive evidence informed, impactful interventions for learners who use EAL. The session signposts school-wide systems, resources and training that will actively promote improved educational outcomes for EAL learners.

Thursday 12 September

3.30pm - 5pm

Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL (Primary)

This session aims to familiarise teaching assistants (TAs) with some of the challenges that learners using EAL might face when learning English and learning through English at the same time. The session introduces practical, easy to use strategies for supporting learners using EAL to develop the language skills they need to access the curriculum and fulfil their potential.

Tuesday 12 November

1pm - 3pm

Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL (secondary)

This session aims to familiarise teaching assistants (TAs) with some of the challenges that learners using EAL might face when learning English and learning through English at the same time. The session introduces practical, easy to use strategies for supporting learners using EAL to develop the language skills they need to access the curriculum and fulfil their potential.

Wednesday 13 November

1pm - 3pm

Comprehensible English for New Arrivals Using EAL

This session for primary school staff aims to raise awareness of what is and what is not comprehensible, accessible English Language for learners who use EAL, particularly those who are New to English or in the Early Acquisition stages. The session considers what makes English difficult to understand and introduces a rage of easy-to-use strategies for giving instructions and checking understanding which can be used both in and out of the classroom

Wednesday 12 February

3.30pm - 5pm

Comprehensible English for New Arrivals Using EAL

This session for secondary school staff aims to raise awareness of what is and what is not comprehensible, accessible English Language for learners who use EAL, particularly those who are New to English or in the Early Acquisition stages. The session considers what makes English difficult to understand and introduces a rage of easy-to-use strategies for giving instructions and checking understanding which can be used both in and out of the classroom

Thursday 13 February

3.30pm - 5pm

Adaptive Teaching for Learners using EAL for primary colleagues.

This session for Primary school staff provides guidance on how to adapt teaching in a responsive way to meet the language development needs of pupils who use EAL alongside curriculum learning. The session introduces a range of easy-to-use strategies that can be implemented immediately into teaching and learning without lowering expectations of the pupils.

Tuesday 25 March

3.30pm - 5pm

Adaptive Teaching for Learners using EAL for secondary colleagues.

This session for secondary school staff provides guidance on how to adapt teaching in a responsive way to meet the language development needs of pupils who use EAL alongside curriculum learning. The session introduces a range of easy-to-use strategies that can be implemented immediately into teaching and learning without lowering expectations of the pupils.

Secondary Classroom Practitioners

Wednesday 26 March

3.30pm - 5pm

Language Awareness for the Classroom (Secondary)

This session for those secondary teachers and school staff who want or need to improve their own knowledge and understanding of language and how it works. The session considers why all teachers have a responsibility to support their learners using EAL in developing the English language proficiency needed to fully access the curriculum. It looks in detail at specific aspects of language that learners who use EAL may have difficulty with and provides ideas of how to support learners in learning and using this language.

Classroom Practitioners

EAL/SEND leads

Thursday 26 June

3.30pm - 5pm

This session aims to support schools that are hosting pupils on funded schemes such as the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Homes for Ukraine. We will discuss recommended in-class strategies for settling pupils in, emotional support for Refugees, developing English proficiency and setting up interventions such as paired reading and English phonics and the importance of communication with parents and the community. We will share advice and strategies on how to successfully include these vulnerable children and develop emotional literacy and empathy in your classroom.  Extensive research has shown that school, and most importantly the relationships formed at school, can be an incredibly stabilising, positive and nurturing experience.

This session is fully funded for schools welcoming children from resettlement schemes.

EMAS offer bespoke training for Initial Teacher Training covering topics such as:

• Importance of tracking English proficiency progress in EAL learners
• Planning for language
• Adaptive strategies for the classroom for newly arrived and more advanced EAL learners in both primary and secondary phases