BAISIS – The role of the EAL Coordinator in mainstream education

• Date: November 22, 2023
• Time: 12:30 – 13:30
• Cost: BAISIS member £50  / BSA member £65 / Member additional attendee £20  / Non-member £130
• Audience: SLT/SMT, EAL lead, EAL staff
• Platform: Zoom (online) – Webinar

Course Outline:

Provision for EAL learners varies from school to school. Many make additional, tailored provision but much learning continues in the mainstream curriculum and therefore requires clear communication and teamwork from different staff across a school. The role of EAL coordinator is, at first glance, to manage the additional provision, including additional specialist staff, and promote EAL learning needs across the mainstream curriculum, providing support, updates and training to relevant colleagues. This broad role can often be misunderstood; this webinar will establish best practice recommendations for an integrated and comprehensive EAL coordinator role in mainstream education.

Learning outcomes:

• Working with colleagues to develop understanding and resources across the full curriculum
• Interpreting data and knowing your students
• Promoting knowledge and understanding of linguistic and cultural variations within the school community.

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Speaker: 

Marijke Rivers-Andries, Middle School EAL Coordinator at The American School in England

Marijke Rivers-Andries is the Middle School EAL Coordinator at TASIS England. She has been in international education for more than 10 years since she moved from Belgium to the UK. Marijke experienced first-hand what it was like to be an English Language Learner when her family moved to the United States in 1992. Even though she was only ten at the time, she did not realise the impact this one year abroad would have on her life. She would not be in the role she is today without that experience. Marijke is passionate about multilingualism and about advocating for students whose first language is not English. She loves bringing their home languages into the school, making sure students do not need to leave a large part of their identity at the door. As the Middle School EAL Coordinator, Marijke uses a collaborative approach with her colleagues and keeps close connections with the parents of English Language Learners by running frequent workshops discussing English language learning and multilingualism.