Essays and visual thought pieces about the everyday decisions that shape language-aware teaching: what we notice, what we scaffold and what we ask of learners.
I’m working on a few more pieces about teaching, language and learning. I’ll add them here when they’re ready.
A shared responsibility
Every teacher teaches language.
Students learn subject ideas through the words, texts, talk and routines of each lesson. Making those demands visible helps everyone enter the learning.
Keep the intellectual goal high.
Scaffolding should make the route into complex thinking clearer, not quietly change the destination.
Teach the language of the task.
Show students how to describe, compare, explain, justify and evaluate in the subject they are learning.
Build towards independence.
Use models, rehearsal and structured support with a clear plan for students to take more of the work themselves.
365 lesson ideas · 13 teaching categories
EAL in Practice.
Search by subject, teaching move or category. Each lesson pairs a worked example with practical steps, teacher language and examples from five subject areas.
A searchable, printable handbook of classroom strategies for reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar and vocabulary. Each entry explains why a strategy helps, how to run it and how it looks in a subject lesson.
Browse unique activities in each skill area
★ Skill focus stars show what an activity practises most directly. They are not a score or quality rating.
Two familiar frameworks, made interactive. Trace a purposeful multilingual learning cycle, then explore how vocabulary support can move from first encounter to independent use.
Diagram 01 · Controlled translanguaging
A bridge back to English.
A planned, time-limited L1 window can help students process meaning while keeping English learning visible.
Start with accessible English
1. English input
Present the concept with clear English, visuals and key vocabulary. Keep the subject goal visible.
Photosynthesis exampleIntroduce the process and model the key terms: carbon dioxide, water, glucose, oxygen and light energy.
Four controls keep the window purposeful
Choose where another language may support the task: a paired discussion, vocabulary station or planning sheet.
Diagram 02 · Vocabulary scaffolding
Present. Practise. Produce.
A vocabulary sequence should respond to what learners know now—and gradually hand more of the work back to them.
First encounter
Make meaning visible.
Connect a new word to its meaning, sound and spelling. Try a picture-word match, a small vocabulary network or a modelled example.
Choose a task and add a key idea to build a sentence frame.
These diagrams are planning prompts. Choose the support that fits the learners, language load and learning goal.
A practical guide
Translanguaging, made usable.
A visual guide to purposeful multilingual practice: when it can help, how to structure it and how to keep the learning connected to English development.
The full collection
Browse the visual library.
All supplied graphics are gathered here. Search the collection, filter by series, and open any image for a larger view.
Take the frameworks with you
Download the guides.
Printable versions for planning, classroom use and professional learning.
I’ve spent more than 25 years in education, working in the UK, Europe and Asia. I lead EAL and PCS in an international school context, supporting multilingual learners and working with colleagues across the curriculum.
I still teach as well as lead. My background in Science and English helps me work with subject teachers on the language their students need. I also enjoy building programmes that help students take part across the curriculum.
01
Keep the thinking ambitious
Every teacher is a language teacher. A model, a prompt or time to practise can help students tackle demanding ideas without making the work easier.
02
Make language visible
Every subject asks students to read, explain, interpret, argue or evaluate. EAL specialists can help colleagues notice those demands and make disciplinary language teachable.
03
More than one language is a strength
Students bring knowledge, experience and ways of thinking in all their languages. Learning English and valuing those languages can go together.
Experience
A few of the roles I’ve held
International school leadership Head of EAL and PCS, with previous pastoral and year-level leadership experience.
British Council, Singapore Head of School and Head of Secondary, leading academic teams, teacher development and programme delivery across centres.
Earlier teaching Academic English, EAL and language education in the UK and Turkey, alongside curriculum and teacher-training work.
Study & qualifications
Language, education and science
MA Education · Nottingham University
PGCEi Secondary English Language · Nottingham University
MA English Language Teaching · Bath University
Cambridge DELTA · Cambridge University
PGCE Biology, Chemistry and Physics with QTS · Bristol University
BSc (Hons) Biology · King’s College London
“A learner’s current English shouldn’t set a ceiling on what they can think about.”
Explore the work.
Browse the lessons, essays and tools shaped by these ideas.
