LEAVES for Schools
Building language-aware international schools where multilingual inclusion reaches the classroom.
Many international schools value multilingualism and inclusion. Policies may celebrate linguistic diversity, specialist language support may be in place, and teachers may be committed to supporting multilingual learners.
Yet the learner’s everyday experience can still vary significantly from classroom to classroom, subject to subject and programme to programme.
LEAVES helps schools look beneath their intentions and explore how multilingual inclusion is actually experienced through classroom practice, curriculum and school systems.
When Good Intentions Don’t Quite Reach the Classroom
The gaps in multilingual provision are not always obvious. A school can value multilingualism, have strong policies and provide specialist language support - while the learner’s experience remains inconsistent.
Policy may celebrate multilingualism while classroom practice still privileges English-only participation.
Teachers may value inclusion while being unsure whether a learner is struggling with the concept or the language needed to express it.
Language specialists may provide strong support while collaboration with subject teachers varies across departments.
Curriculum may identify what students need to learn without making the language demands of that learning visible.
Students may be physically present in the classroom while having limited opportunities to participate meaningfully.
The LEAVES School Snapshot is designed to help make these less visible gaps visible.
The LEAVES School Snapshot
A practical starting point for understanding multilingual provision across your school.
The LEAVES School Snapshot is a focused diagnostic designed to help international schools identify strengths, inconsistencies and potential gaps in how multilingual learners are supported.
Rather than asking simply whether multilingual support exists, the Snapshot looks more closely at what that support looks like in practice.
Using the LEAVES lens of Validation, Engagement and Scaffolding, it explores the conditions multilingual learners experience across classrooms, curriculum, language support and wider school systems.
This is not an inspection. It is a starting point for reflection, conversation and informed action.
What Does the Snapshot Explore?
CLASSROOM PRACTICE
Can multilingual learners access, participate in and demonstrate learning while their English is developing?
LANGUAGE SUPPORT & COLLABORATION
How effectively do language specialists, content teachers and middle leaders work together around multilingual learners?
CURRICULUM & ASSESSMENT
Are the language demands of disciplinary learning recognised and intentionally supported?
SCHOOL CULTURE & SYSTEMS
Do policies, structures and everyday practices consistently support multilingual identities and language-aware practice?
The aim is not to score the school. It is to identify what is working, where experiences may be inconsistent, and where realistic changes could have the greatest impact.
How Does the Snapshot Work?
1- Gather Perspectives
2- Reflect
A small cross-section of school leaders, middle leaders, classroom/content teachers and language specialists complete aligned versions of the Snapshot.
Each group reflects on the same core areas from their own professional perspective, based on what they observe or have evidence of in practice.
3- Identify Patterns
Responses are examined for strengths, inconsistencies, visibility gaps and differences in perception across roles and school systems.
4- Start the Conversation
The school receives a concise summary of what has surfaced, followed by a conversation to explore realistic areas for further reflection and action.
The purpose is not to rank or inspect the school. It is to make patterns visible that may otherwise remain hidden.
Interested in Piloting the LEAVES School Snapshot?
The LEAVES School Snapshot is currently being developed for and piloted within international school contexts.
If your school would like to explore its multilingual provision through the perspectives of leadership, teachers and language specialists, I would be happy to start a conversation.
Pilot participation is currently free and limited.
Express Your Interest