This practical online course for international school staff aims to equip you to be able to embed effective practices for assessing the English language proficiency of multilingual learners. This will help to inform targeted in-class support, leading to improved learning and educational outcomes for these learners. The course will introduce you to The Bell Foundation’s award-winning English as an Additional Language (EAL) Assessment Framework for Schools and provide specialist guidance on how to use the tool in a pragmatic and realistic way that can work alongside existing assessment systems.
Who is this course for?
Primary and secondary practitioners, including:
- Heads of EAL or EAL co-ordinators.
- Other school staff with responsibility for EAL assessment.
Please note: This course is for international participants only. Please click here to view our upcoming online courses for those living and working in the UK.
Course structure:
Module 1:
Pre-webinar online tasks, completed at your own pace over a one-week period.
You will:
- Explore and reflect on how different contexts – including yours – approach the assessment of multilingual learners.
- Learn about how the Assessment Framework for Schools is organised and how it can be used.
- Become more aware of how to use the Assessment Framework to make a best fit judgment of the English language proficiency of multilingual learners in speaking, listening, and reading and viewing, to monitor your learners’ ongoing progress and set appropriate language learning targets.
Time commitment: minimum 2 hours.
Module 2:
Live interactive webinar with the course tutors:
- Primary: 24 September 2025, 11:00 UK time (UTC+1).
- Secondary: 25 September 2025, 11:00 UK time (UTC+1).
You will:
Explore how to use the Assessment Framework to assess a learner’s writing, identifying their strengths and areas for development, and to set appropriate language learning targets.
Time commitment: 1 hour.
Module 3:
Final project to implement learning from the course, followed by tutor feedback. You will apply what you have learned in modules 1 and 2 by assessing one of your own learners’ speaking or writing skills and setting meaningful learning targets for them.
Time commitment: minimum 2 hours.
Why learn with us?
- The three online modules are designed to work around the busy lives of professionals in international schools.
- With five hours of online study over a five-week period, this course enables you to work at a manageable pace with plenty of time to process course content and apply relevant insights to your context.
- The course is designed to be highly interactive and collaborative, with opportunities to work with other course participants, course tutors and course material.
- Module 2 consists of a live webinar with opportunities to ask questions and share good practice in real time.
- A certificate will be awarded for successful completion of the course.
- Tickets are available for both primary and secondary practitioners in international schools.
Tutors
All our tutors are experienced teacher educators with substantial experience of teaching and assessing multilingual learners in relevant contexts. Tutors are trained e-moderators and offer friendly, practical specialist support to all participants throughout the course.
Ticket sales end 9 September 2025, 16:00 UK time (UTC +1).
Important notice: There are only two websites authorised to promote and take bookings for this event run by The Bell Foundation. These are: The Bell Foundation’s website and Eventbrite. Please do not book, or express interest in, this event through any other website.
