Continued Professional Development (CPD) 2025 to 2026

Bell Foundation: Leading a whole school strategy for EAL

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Thursday 11 
September

3:30pm to 5pm       

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.

Cost £45 per delegate or fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

Thursday 18 
September

3:30pm to 5pm

Developing an induction programme for Newly Arrived EAL learners (Primary & 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.

Cost £45 per delegate or fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

One Friargate

Room 1.5.

Parking Info.

Tuesday 23 
September

1:30pm to 3pm

Careers Information Session for resettlement pupils 

This session is designed for Y11 students who are currently applying to sixth form or college and want to explore their Post 16 options further.  It provides a valuable opportunity for students to discuss their future plans and speak directly with a range of Post 16 education providers.  Attendees will receive up-to-date information to help them make confident, well-informed decisions about their next steps. 

Free for Coventry Y11 resettlement pupils, their parents, their school Careers Leads and EAL Co-ordinators

Careers Leads, EAL Cos,
Year 11 pupils on resettlement schemes and their parents

Tuesday 7 
October

6pm to 7pm

EAL Co-ordinators: Best Practice (Primary & Secondary)

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 pupils in your schools.

Cost £45 per delegate

One Friargate

Room 8.1

Parking Info.

Thursday 16 
October

1:30pm to 3pm

Schools of Sanctuary: Network Meeting 1

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 share with colleagues your school’s journey to becoming a School of Sanctuary and how it is fostering a culture of welcome and safety for people seeking sanctuary.

Free for all 

Thursday 16 
October

4pm to 5pm

Autumn half term

The Bell Foundation: Embedding EAL Assessment for Secondary Colleagues
(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 4 
November

3:30pm to 5pm

The Bell Foundation: Embedding EAL Assessment for Primary Colleagues
(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Wednesday 5 
November

3:30pm to 5pm 

The Bell Foundation: Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL (Primary)
(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 11 
November

1pm to 3pm

The Bell Foundation: Teaching Assistants: Working with learners using EAL (Secondary)
(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

1pm to 3pm

Autumn Term EAL Co-ordinators Network Meeting - Primary

(Read further information)

Free for Coventry EAL Co-ordinators to attend

Wednesday 26
November

4pm to 5.30pm

Autumn Term EAL Co-ordinators Network Meeting - Secondary

(Read further information)

Free for Coventry EAL Co-ordinators to attend

Thursday 27 
November

4pm to 5.30pm

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.

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 2 
December

10.30am to 12pm

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.

Cost £45 per delegate or fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

Wednesday 3 
December  

3:30pm to 5pm

Post 16 choices for Year 11 pupils

This session is for Y11 students who are in the process of applying for a place in college, sixth form or apprenticeship.  The session offers information on different colleges, apprenticeships and sixth forms and provides support with the application process.  It offers advice on how to write an application form or how to answer more complex questions as part of the process.  It is a great chance to ask questions and feel more confident about next steps.

Free for Coventry Y11 resettlement pupils and their parents 

One Friargate

Room 1.2

Parking Info.

Tuesday 9 
December

4pm to 5.30pm

The Bell Foundation: Introduction to Assessment for Primary Practitioners

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Primary EAL Leads, Primary Classroom Teachers, Primary TAs

Wednesday 7
January

1.30pm to 3pm

The Bell Foundation: Introduction to Assessment for Secondary Practitioners

(See our Bell Foundation CPD outline for details)

Cost £45 per delegate

Secondary EAL Leads, Secondary Classroom Teachers, Secondary TAs

Thursday 8 
January

1.30pm to 3pm

Boosting reading @ Primary and Secondary

BRP/S is nationally recognised as a literacy intervention to improve standards in reading.  It supports the language and reading development of our multilingual learners and is effective for those at early and developing stages of English Proficiency.  Bex Shore, a BRP trainer and ECAR adviser, will lead this whole day session and will train attendees to deliver the programme.  Links will be made between BRP and other reading contexts e.g. Guided Reading.  A training file worth £30 and lunch is included in the cost.  There will also be a book supplier and follow-up support available.

One Friargate

Room M1.5

Friday 9 January

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.

Together with The Languages Hub - Sidney Stringer Secondary Academy

Free for all to attend

Exam Officers
Community School Teachers
Secondary EAL Cos

Wednesday 14 January

3:30pm to 5pm

Working with Parents of Multilingual learners

Parental involvement is effective in supporting children’s learning overall.  During this session we will help colleagues review existing practice around engaging parents of multilingual learners by considering some of the barriers they may face and how these may be overcome.  You will have the opportunity to share your good practice, explore new strategies for parental involvement and hear first-hand from some of the parents of the resettlement pupils that we support.

Cost £45 per delegate

One Friargate

Room 1.2

Parking Info.

Thursday 15 
January

4pm to 6pm

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.  We will also consider the use of first language for concept development and differences in the way maths operates/is taught around the world.

Cost £45 per delegate

Primary Maths Leads, Primary EAL Leads, Primary Classroom Teachers

Thursday 29 January

Please note change of date

3:30pm to 5pm

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

Cost £45 per delegate

Primary Classroom Practitioners, 
Primary EAL Leads

One Friargate

Room 1.5

Parking Info.

Thursday 5 February

1:30pm to 3pm

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

Cost £45 per delegate

Secondary Classroom Practitioners,
Secondary EAL Leads

One Friargate

Room 1.2

Parking Info.

Thursday 5 
February

1:30pm to 3.30pm

Spring half term

-

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

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 10
February

Please note the change of date

Supporting Multilingual learners using AI in the classroom

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 Co-ordinator and Year 4 Class Teacher at Southfields Primary School and Lewis Smith, EAL Co-ordinator and English Teacher at Barr’s Hill Secondary School, will be sharing the strategies and resources that they use in the classroom and beyond.

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 24 February

Please note change of date

3:30pm to 5pm

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

Cost £45 per delegate

Wednesday 25 February

3:30pm to 5pm

Schools of Sanctuary: Network Meeting 2

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 share with colleagues your school’s journey to becoming a School of Sanctuary and how it is fostering a culture of welcome and safety for people seeking sanctuary.

Free for all to attend

Tuesday 3 March

Time TBC

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 15 - 21 June 2025.  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.

Free for all to attend

Thursday 5 March

3:30pm to 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.

Cost £45 per delegate

Tuesday 10 March

3:30pm to 5pm

Spring Term EAL Co-ordinators Network Meeting - Primary
(Read further information)

Free for Coventry EAL Co-ordinators to attend

Tuesday 17 March

Spring Term EAL Co-ordinators Network Meeting - Secondary
(Read further information)

Free for Coventry EAL Co-ordinators to attend

Wednesday 18 
March

Early Career Teachers: Strategies and resources to support newly arrived and more advanced multilingual learners in the classroom part 1

In this first of two sessions, we will look at the background of Coventry’s EAL learners and the differences between newly arrived and more advanced EAL learners.  We will examine how the teacher standards apply to EAL learners on behaviour management and creating a positive learning environment amongst others and explore practical strategies and resources to help EAL learners access the curriculum.

Cost £45 per delegate

One Friargate

Room 1.2

Parking Info.

Wednesday 6 May

1:30pm to 3pm

Summer half term

Early Career Teachers: Strategies and resources to support newly arrived and more advanced multilingual learners in the classroom part 2

In this second session we will continue to explore the Teachers’ Standards and how these apply for EAL learners in relation to planning for English language development, assessment and tracking progress of EAL learners and then using scaffolds in the classroom to support speaking and writing development.

Cost £45 per delegate

One Friargate

Room 1.5

Parking Info.

Wednesday 10 June

1:30pm to 3pm

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 in how to help resettle children who are refugees 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.

Cost £45 per delegate or fully funded for participants from maintained Coventry schools

EAL Leads, SLT, Inclusion Leads, Classroom Teachers

One Friargate

Room 1.2

Parking Info.

Wednesday 17 June

9am to 12.30pm

Schools of Sanctuary: Network Meeting 3

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 share with colleagues your school’s journey to becoming a School of Sanctuary and how it is fostering a culture of welcome and safety for people seeking sanctuary.

Free for all to attend

EAL Cos, Senior Leaders

Tuesday 23 
June

Time TBC

Summer Term EAL Co-ordinators Network Meeting - Primary & Secondary
(Read further information)

Free for Coventry EAL Co-ordinators to attend

Thursday 2 
July