How Schools Can Move from EAL Support to Multilingual Strength This Year

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A Moment of Choice

Every school year begins with energy, optimism, and the weight of everything unsolved from the year before. This year, more than ever, leaders are asking:

What do we want to do differently?

If your school serves multilingual learners — and almost every school does — it may be time to ask a more specific question:

Are we still offering support? Or are we ready to build strength?

Multilingualism Is the New Normal — But We Haven’t Caught Up

Over 1 in 5 students in English schools now speak English as an Additional Language.

In many international and urban schools, that figure is far higher — and growing. And yet, so many schools still operate from a model built on the idea of "catch-up":

• Additional support for newcomers

• Occasional CPD on EAL "strategies"

• A single coordinator trying to hold everything together

These practices aren’t bad — they’re just not enough.

Because language isn’t a barrier to be overcome. It’s the very medium of learning. And in multilingual classrooms, it needs to be everyone’s business.

The System Shift Schools Are Ready For

Across the UK, and internationally, the landscape is shifting — and fast.

National conversations about what matters most in education are turning toward something multilingual learners have always needed: oral language, vocabulary, and access to meaningful communication.

• The Oracy Education Commission’s 2024 report, The Fourth R, calls for speaking and listening to be treated with the same importance as reading, writing and maths — because they unlock confidence, curriculum access, and lifelong learning.

• The Education Endowment Foundation consistently ranks oral language interventions and structured vocabulary instruction as some of the most impactful strategies — especially when embedded across subjects.

• And the Bell Foundation has shown that English language proficiency is a more powerful predictor of attainment than gender, FSM status or ethnicity — but remains under-addressed in most whole-school improvement plans.

Why is this important? Because what multilingual learners have always needed — explicit teaching of language, structured oracy, vocabulary awareness — is now being recognised as vital for all learners.

That puts schools at a pivotal moment.

To raise outcomes for all, and serve multilingual learners well, we must move beyond the idea of “support” — and toward a curriculum, culture and staff body that is language-aware by design, not by exception.

What Strength Looks Like in Practice

This shift isn’t about perfection. It’s about purpose. And it’s already happening — in classrooms, departments and leadership teams that are ready to see things differently.

It looks like:

• Every teacher understanding the language demands of their subject — and feeling equipped to meet them

• Language scaffolds and oracy routines built into everyday lessons, not saved for interventions

• A shared belief that multilingualism is an asset, not an obstacle

• Students seeing their identity reflected in the curriculum — and knowing their language is a strength

And most of all, it looks like leaders choosing to prioritise systems over stopgaps.

What If This Year Looked Different?

Imagine a school year where multilingual learners aren’t expected to "catch up" —but are recognised as central to the way we teach, plan and lead.

A year where language development isn’t something a few teachers figure out quietly, but something every teacher understands, owns and feels confident about.

A year where your curriculum reflects the reality of your classrooms. Where language, identity and equity aren’t themes for one department —they’re part of your whole school approach.

This kind of shift is already happening. Quietly, intentionally, in schools that have decided to do things differently — and sustainably.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about a new approach designed to support schools on that journey.

But for now, the invitation is simple:

Start the conversation. Look honestly at where language lives in your school — and where it doesn’t yet.

Ask: what would it look like if we led with language?

Let This Be the Year

Let this be the year your school steps beyond “support” and moves toward something deeper, more equitable — and more lasting.

Let this be the year you begin the shift.

🌱 Ready to Reflect More Deeply?

I’ve created a short, practical guide for school leaders and EAL leads:“5 Conversations Your School Should Be Having About EAL — Are They?”

It’s designed to help you start the shift — from support-based thinking to language-rich, whole-school inclusion.

Download the free guide here

Or if you’d rather talk it through:

📞 Book a short call — no pressure, just space to explore what’s possible in your setting.