Supporting multilingualism (‘EAL’) policy exemplar and guidance

Schools and settings that educate multilingual children and young people should develop a document that transparently outlines how as an establishment you comply with current equality legislation, as well as improving outcomes and experiences for multilingual children. 

Multilingual children and their families often have considerably higher risk factors due to the language barrier, as well as this barrier limiting the academic progress a child can make.  The National curriculum framework and Early years foundation stage statutory framework makes it clear that teachers and settings should take into account the needs of multilingual learners, as well as ensuring they are able to participate in all activities and learning.  

Ofsted’s framework outlines that inspectors ‘will assess the extent to which the provider complies with the relevant legal duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010 including, where relevant, the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Human Rights Act 1998.’  Their handbook further explains that they will review how a school/settings ‘promotes equality of opportunity so that all pupils can thrive together, understanding that difference is a positive, not a negative, and that individual characteristics make people unique. This includes, but is not limited to, pupils’ understanding of the protected characteristics and how equality and diversity are promoted.’

The purpose of this guidance and exemplar is to support schools and settings in creating a clear policy to improve the educational outcomes, well-being, attendance, and safety of children, young people and multilingual staff. This exemplar and guidance can be used as a template by editing to support you in creating a bespoke and personalised response to your Equality Duty and other legislation.