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Learning Village

SEND support: Supporting autistic learners

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6-11 year-olds 'The Village'

Blended vocabulary, language structure and reading programme for EAL and multilingual learners

Image as the language of instruction for learners of ANY language background

Independent learning • small-group teaching • differentiation in class • high interest, low level reading support

For 6-11 year-olds

11-16 year-olds 'The Islands'

Blended vocabulary, language structure and reading programme for EAL and multilingual learners

Image as the language of instruction for learners of ANY language background

Independent learning • small-group teaching • differentiation in class • high interest, low level reading support

For 11-16 year-olds

Post-16/adults (Community Village)

Blended vocabulary, language structure and reading programme for ESOL and multilingual adult learners

Supporting school community members with their integration into school community life!

High interest, low level reading - image as the language of instruction for learners of ANY language background.

AssessEP

Across Cultures English Proficiency Assessment (AssessEP) is an easy assessment to administer, suitable for learners aged 7+ through to adult.

EAL Consultancy

A virtual consultancy process at your own pace and at a time convenient for you aiming to provide staff with the skills and resources needed to successfully support language learners within the demands of the curriculum and of a multilingual world.

EAL Inset day/CPD day

Bespoke CPD for schools and school groups.

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Colourful hands symbolising neurodiversity

Author: Karen Wilson, SEND Specialist

Download Autism guide

Approximate reading time: 1 minute

Learners, with or without EAL, may have special educational needs. These needs often require a range of carefully selected strategies and approaches to help learners reach their full potential.

Tip or Idea: Take time to observe your learners, to help distinguish between needs arising from English as an Additional Language (EAL) and those stemming from specific educational needs (SEND). Careful and systematic observation helps teachers to make informed decisions to support learners effectively. This guidance from the Bell Foundation provides a helpful framework.

Learning Village resource: Our range of SEND guides include useful information about different learner needs, as well as adjustments you can make both in the Learning Village and to your teaching practice to support them. Take a look at our summarised Autism guide. Members can access the full set of comprehensive guides here.

Download Autism guide

SEND support: Supporting deaf learners

Created: Wed 7th Feb 2024

Learning Village is an invaluable tool for deaf learners with or without EAL. The use of image as the main language of instruction provides visual cues to support your learners.

Tip or Idea: Deaf learners may need to lip read or see speech physically modelled to support their understanding. Using our resources in an adult-led small group session and/or using the demo learner as a teaching tool can be very powerful for deaf learners.

SEND support: Motivating SEND learners

Created: Wed 4th Dec 2024

All learners have times where they may become less engaged or motivated with their learning. This can be for a range of reasons but learners with additional needs may face even more challenges. It is important to get to know your learners well and learn what motivates and excites them. Try to incorporate this into your lesson planning and help them to progress and reach their full potential.

SEND support: Scaffolding from word to sentence level

Created: Mon 9th Mar 2026

Progressing from single words to full sentences is essential for learners’ confidence and access to the curriculum. The first goal is to build vocabulary and meaning. Start with key vocabulary using visuals, repetition, and word banks. Next, support learners with sentence stems and substitution tables to build phrases and gradually progress to expanding sentences with adjectives and conjunctions.

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