Our ESOL Development Day brought together practitioners, leaders and learners. We were delighted to welcome James Owen, Chief Executive of Medr, who opened the event with an address. This was followed by Michell Hiller‑Forster, Vice Principal for Quality and Learner Journey at Cardiff and Vale College, who provided an insightful overview of the adult learning partnership and ESOL provision across Cardiff and the Vale.
A particular highlight was our learner panel, led by Martha Holman, 2025 Inspire! Tutor Award winner. Hearing learners share their experiences and journeys was both powerful and inspiring.
We were also pleased to have Alex Stevenson Deputy Director at Learning and Work Institute provide an update on the development of an ESOL effectiveness framework for Wales.
The day featured four engaging workshops:
- Introduction to Healing Spaces – Jude Darwich, International Rescue Committee UK
- ESOL Support and Inclusion Project (ESIP) – Lucie Gegg, Cardiff and Vale College
- Stones in the ESOL river: What ESOL learners teach us about teaching – Lora Agbaso, Coleg Gwent
- Learner Autonomy and Teacher Productivity for ESOL – Catherine Evans, Jisc, Katie Walsh, Bridgend College, Claire Colley, Coleg Cambria
- The role of WSOL in a multilingual, participatory approach to the adult migrant language education classroom – Professor Mike Chick, University of South Wales, Dr Gwennan Higham and Walaa Mouma, PhD student, Swansea University
We were also joined by Sam Shepherd, ESOL teacher and teacher trainer at Shipley College, who explored the value and role of working responsively with emergent learner language in ESOL classrooms.
The event concluded with feedback, key takeaways and priorities for action, led by Michelle Kerswell and Elinor Franklin, Co-chairs of the ESOL Network.
You can find the presentations from the day below.
