Teaching Languages to SEND Pupils

This session is designed to engage learners of all abilities and showcases activities that our seasoned practitioners, Elaine and Julie, have used in their language classrooms.

👋 Meet Your Hosts:

Elaine Gelder, Director of Education at Languagenut

•Over 36 years' experience as Teacher of MFL and EAL across all age ranges and abilities in the UK and Germany

•Initiated and established an accreditation process for early career teachers supported with a complete pedagogical training course

•Lead Mentor for a Trust for School Direct, Teach First, SCITT and PGCE trainees

•Worked as Head of Department, Assistant Head, Advanced skills Teacher, Specialist Leader of Education, Head of Teaching and Learning for a large academy chain, resource writer, trainer, and examiner

•Worked alongside a multitude of Ofsted inspectors

•Director of Education at Languagenut and former Senior Director of MFL for a large high performing multi-academy chain

Julie Sutcliffe, Education Development Lead at Global School Alliance

With over 30 years’ experience in the classroom, Julie has dedicated her career to inspiring both students and educators through a lifelong passion for languages. She has held various middle and senior leadership roles and understands the unique challenges of teaching and leading Modern Foreign Languages (MFL).

As a former National Lead Practitioner for MFL in a large multi-academy trust, she supported over 40 schools with tailored training, CPD, and leadership development, including delivering the NPQ for Leading Teacher Development. She is also an experienced MFL GCSE examiner.

Now working as Education Development Lead for MFL at the Global School Alliance, she continues to champion languages, support teachers, and promote global partnerships that broaden young people’s horizons and build cultural awareness for a more connected world.

My role as School Improvement Lead with Global School Alliance centres around one simple aim: to inspire and continue to inspire the teaching and learning of MFL in schools across the UK and, across the world, now and in the future, and to provide transformative learning opportunities for young people.My career in education spans over 30 years, all of them in the classroom inspiring young people and sharing my passion for languages. I have extensive experience in the pedagogy and methodology of language teaching as well as leading a department. My previous role as National Lead Practitioner for a large academy trust has also provided me with valuable experience of working with teams to bring about improvement and impact. My current role enables me to continue to raise the profile of modern foreign languages in an increasingly global world, to inspire language teachers and share expertise across the profession and, most importantly, develop a deep cultural awareness in young people through meaningful partnerships that broadens their horizons, and strengthens their career and economic prospects by providing them with valuable opportunities to better understand, explore and experience the wider world.