Below we list previous training events for which video recordings and/or downloadable resources are available.
How do we know it works? Approaches and tools for evaluation
With constant innovation in educational practice and beyond, it can be difficult to know whether what we do is working. This workshop will introduce delegates to principles of good evaluation, and will cover some tools and techniques for identifying appropriate evaluation methods. It will also explore some of the key challenges of meaningful evaluation, and how we might go about tackling these in real life settings.
Making words work to support mathematical understanding and reasoning
This workshop is designed to support delegates in ensuring speaking and listening has a high profile within the mathematics curriculum, being used to challenge and stimulate thinking and reasoning skills. Effective engagement strategies and practical language-based activities will be modelled to scaffold, develop and extend pupils who have English as an additional language as articulate and independent mathematicians. The language demands of the maths curriculum will be analysed and discussed with a view to giving staff a greater awareness of how to make the maths curriculum more accessible and engaging for EAL learners.
Using the Home Language to enrich EAL support
This workshop in intended to raise awareness in participants of the academic and social benefits of developing EAL children’s home languages alongside English. It will also illustrate that being bilingual is not a prerequisite to adopting a bilingual approach to teaching.
International New Arrivals: EYFS principles for all ages
What can we learn for EAL practise from our nursery and reception settings? Sharing examples of good practise from Yorkshire and beyond; with links to Educational psychology; we will explore how EYFS frameworks and pedagogies can be effectively used to support International New Arrivals learning EAL at any stage in their education.
Supporting new arrivals and new to schooling students in mainstream lessons in secondary schools
We will look at some of the challenges that this can present to mainstream teachers in secondary schools to meet these students’ needs, strategies that we have put in place in our school and examples of resources that teachers have developed to differentiate for and support these students. The session will give practical ideas that can be used in different situations.
Language for learning (going beyond vocabulary)
Many EAL learners are not only learning English as a new language, they are learning different subjects across the curriculum in their new language. These different subjects all have their own specialised academic language, which includes vocabulary, grammar and specific text features. This workshop will focus on ways in which you can ensure that your EAL learners develop confidence as learners of academic language, drawing on the subject knowledge they may already have from their prior educational experiences.
Translating research into practice to support EAL pupils
In this session Naomi Flynn covered the features of effective practice for EAL learners, both in terms of what research tells us and what research findings look like when translated into practice. Drawing on her own research with teachers of Polish children, Naomi discussed how what teachers might provide in terms of support for their pupils with EAL will change as children become more proficient in English and their family communities more established. The workshop included an opportunity to reflect in depth on what we currently do to support our EAL learners and on how that might be adapted in ways that work for all of our children.
EAL Learning, Pedagogy and Materials
Annina’s session started with an overview of facts about EAL pupils, including (i) the relationship between English proficiency and educational achievement, (ii) typical English language profiles of EAL learners and what influences their development, and (iii) the continuing language support needs of advanced EAL pupils. Particular attention was paid to research on vocabulary development and reading comprehension: two aspects of language learning that develop throughout school time.The second part of the session consisted of demonstrations and hands-on tasks exploring how to best support EAL learners, with a particular focus on inclusive, language-conscious teaching. There was also a demonstration of how to prepare appropriate materials. The session was informed by research evidence and best practice examples from EAL professionals.
Children Learning Adjectives: Free research workshop and practitioner CPD
The role of vocabulary breadth and depth in children’s achievement at school and beyond is well recognised. One way of enriching vocabulary is through a rich system of descriptive language. Classroom and clinical practice is designed to support this, and research findings further highlight the power of adjectives and other kinds of descriptive language in children’s developing language systems. Despite their importance in communication, adjectives have received relatively little attention in research, and up to now there has been limited exchange between teachers, clinicians, and researchers. To remedy this, this workshop brings together academic, educational, and clinical perspectives on how children develop descriptive language.
Resources from this event can be accessed via this webpage.