Teaching Assistants: Working with Learners using EAL (Online Course)

Course structure:

Module 1:

Pre-webinar online tasks, completed at your own pace over a one-week period.

You will:

• Explore the role and importance of TAs.

• Increase your understanding of some key issues around multilingualism and additional language development.

• Consider what it is like to learn in another language, and how this applies to your work.

• Explore planned and on-the-spot interventions to support your learners.

Time commitment: minimum 1 hour.

Module 2:

Live interactive webinar with the course tutors.

• Primary: 3 March 2027, 16:00-17:00.

• Secondary: 4 March 2027, 16:00-17:00.

You will:

• Explore the importance of giving multilingual learners opportunities to engage in meaningful classroom talk.

• Learn how to use effective questioning and clear, comprehensible English to support learners’ language development.

• Develop practical strategies to enhance the quality of interactions between teaching assistants and learners.

Time commitment: 1 hour.

Module 3:

You will apply what you have learned in Modules 1 and 2 by completing a short project. You will have the opportunity to either:

• Try out some new strategies with your own learners and reflect on their effectiveness; or:

• Collaborate with a teaching colleague to plan tailored support for multilingual learners in a particular lesson.

You will also explore useful classroom strategies for TAs and have the opportunity to share ideas with and learn from other TAs and your course tutors.

Time commitment: minimum 1 hour.

Why learn with us?

• The course includes three online modules and is designed to work around the busy lives of those working in schools.

• With three hours of online study over a four to five-week period, this course enables you to work at a manageable pace with plenty of time to process course content and consider the relevance 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 is a live webinar with opportunities to ask questions and share good practice in real time.

Tickets are available for either primary or secondary practitioners. You will receive a certificate for successful completion of the course.

Independent UK schools will be charged the standard rate with the income generated enabling The Bell Foundation to further its charitable goals.

For those who are not from a school (e.g. charities or local authority EMTAS teams), please email uk.training@bell-foundation.org.uk for pricing information.

For all bookings: Please ensure the attendee’s email address is used, not the email address of a school finance officer or administrator, to ensure that course messages and materials can be shared.