Online CPD from the BELL Foundation

In response to the Covid-19 crisis and school closures The Bell Foundation will be offering teachers increased opportunities for remote CPD to help them support pupils during and after closures, and publishing new resources which can be used with home learning. 

These opportunities are important because:As a result of school closures, pupils using English as an Additional Language (EAL) may spend weeks with limited access to the approaches to teaching which are best suited to enhancing their English language development alongside their curriculum learning. The switch to home learning is a challenge for most pupils. Adapting this unfamiliar medium to ensure appropriately differentiated pedagogy for students with EAL is likely to be even more so.Some students may lack explicit language input from schools and in many cases experience inconsistent or insufficient exposure to English in the home.  Therefore, there is a risk of loss of learning for many students using EAL, particularly those who are new to English or in the early acquisition stages.Considering that learning is now taking place at a distance, it is more important than ever that schools seek to develop effective communication with parents of learners who use EAL to ensure parents understand what they should be doing to support the learning of their children.  This highlights a need for schools to be especially mindful that communications (both written and spoken) are delivered in clear accessible English, and ideally supported by visual cues.

Free webinars:
The Bell Foundation will be hosting regular free, interactive webinars throughout school closure offering teachers unrivalled access to experts for CPD. 

Overview of forthcoming webinars
View previous webinar recordings

On 30 April 2020 the Foundation is running a series of three webinars focusing on how teachers can effectively support the learning of EAL pupils during and after school closures:

Supporting the home learning of primary EAL pupils
Supporting the home learning of secondary EAL pupils
Assessing the learning of primary and secondary EAL pupils

Free resources:
The Foundation is publishing guidance videos for schools on how to make home learning accessible for EAL pupils and their parents.  The first of these videos are now available on EAL Nexus.  We will be adding to these resources on a regular basis for as long as schools are closed.

View EAL Nexus videos

Online training courses:
Throughout school closure The Bell Foundation will be running online CPD opportunities for teachers and teaching assistants. The courses are designed to be highly interactive and collaborative, with opportunities to work with other course participants, course tutors and course material.  All courses are differentiated for primary and secondary levels.

View all courses
Embedding EAL Assessment
Primary: Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL
Primary: Supporting new arrivals who are New to English
Primary: Introduction to EAL Assessment
Secondary: Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL
Secondary: Supporting new arrivals who are New to English
Secondary: Introduction to EAL Assessment