Coventry Language Policy Framework

Effective implementation of this policy depends on building staff knowledge, confidence, and capacity across the school. Supporting multilingual learners and broadening language opportunities for all learners is a whole-school responsibility, requiring shared understanding, appropriate structures, and sustained professional learning that addresses the specific language demands of individual subjects and key stages embedded in the core work of the school rather than bolted on.

Schools develop a shared understanding of how language operates across the curriculum, with all staff contributing to learners' language development. Staffing is understood in relation to the linguistic and cultural capacity of the school, with language skills, both spoken and written, recognised as part of staff expertise and considered in recruitment and workforce development.

Induction supports consistency in practice. New staff, including Early Career Teachers and non-teaching staff, are introduced to the school’s approach to language and multilingual learners.

Capacity Building

Schools ensure access to specialist expertise, including designated roles such as an EAL lead or language coordinator, and engagement with external services and networks including EMAS. In Coventry, Multilingual Learning Assistants (MLAs) represent a significant and distinctive strength. Their role supports communication with families, access to learning for pupils, and the settling of pupils into school life socially as well as academically. Schools consider how this expertise is used strategically to support both learners and staff, rather than deployed in isolation.

Guidance on professional learning priorities, induction, and the strategic deployment of staffing and resources is set out in the accompanying implementation guidance.

AI-appropriate, supervised use of AI or machine translation tools act as a supplement to, not a substitute for, language teaching and professional translation and interpretation.