p. 1

issue 10 september 2010 welcome welcome to the new school year and to the tenth edition of the mfl sunderland primary newsletter the aim of the newsletter is to keep all primary school mfl teachers informed of the latest developments in primary language teaching nationally regionally and within the local authority previous editions of the newsletter can be found on the mfl sunderland website at www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland/primary-newsletters.htm i would love to hear your comments and feedback about the newsletters please email them to clare.seccombe@gmail.com french lessons for primary teachers primary french upskilling for non-specialist teachers the course will be led by members of the mfl department at st anthony s girls school sunderland s second language college it aims to increase your confidence and knowledge of french vocabulary increase your awareness of french pronunciation and help you to learn games and activities that can be used in the classroom the first session will be on wednesday 29th september and full information follows on page 5 of this newsletter french in key stage 2 a series of workshops for primary teachers the training and materials are based on the revised schemes of work originally published by the qca and now issued by the tda there will be six full-day workshops for years 3 and 4 covering units 1-12 and six workshops for years 5 and 6 covering units 13­24 the workshops for years 5 and 6 will build on the language covered in lower key stage 2 and therefore imply linguistic progression to cover the recommendation of the key stage 2 framework for languages tuesday 14th september thursday 21st october thursday 2nd december tuesday 25th january tuesday 8th march date to be confirmed weds 22nd september tuesday 2nd november wednesday 8th december thursday 27th january thursday 10th march date to be confirmed yr yr yr yr yr yr yr yr yr yr yr yr 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 primary primary primary primary primary primary primary primary primary primary primary primary cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd cpd pallion futures 14-19 centre sandhill centre sandhill centre sandhill centre sandhill centre venue to be confirmed pallion futures 14-19 centre sandhill centre sandhill centre sandhill centre sandhill centre venue to be confirmed materials will be available for participants to use in school and the sessions will also incorporate language training with the aim of enabling non-specialist teachers to lead language lessons confidently so far as possible the lesson content will relate to the primary curriculum with links to literacy and other subjects it will be helpful if schools have copies of the schemes of work and the ks2 framework but other materials will be provided the training will be led by jim mcelwee modern languages adviser in redcar and cleveland la please see www.linksintolanguages.ac.uk/events/1648 y3-4 and www.linksintolanguages.ac.uk events/1649 y5-6 for details of how to register please email clare.seccombe@gmail.com if you have any difficulty or questions.

[close]

p. 2

what next for primary languages last month i received two statements about primary languages the first is from the dfe regarding primary languages pending the national curriculum review the statement that follows can also be viewed online at www.primarylanguages.org.uk/home/news/news_articles dfe_statement.aspx the government is considering its plans for the national curriculum in schools they believe that the current national curriculum has moved far away from the concept of core knowledge and from its original purpose ­ to set out what all children should be taught in each subject they therefore want to return it to its intended purpose as a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines in doing so they aim to slim the national curriculum to give schools greater freedom to build on that core entitlement to provide a rich educational experience for all their pupils and to allow teachers to use their professional judgement to decide how to teach and to organise the curriculum they plan to consult a wide range of academics teachers and other interested parties to ensure that the core curriculum can compare with those of the highest performing countries in the world they will be announcing details of that review in the autumn the position of languages in both the primary and secondary national curriculum will be considered as part of that review the government believes that language skills are important to the social and economic future of the country learning a language also helps children and young people understand the world in which they live and the different cultures of people around the world we know that over 90 of primary schools are already offering some language teaching to their 7-11 year olds ministers appreciate the efforts that teachers are putting into making sure that children in primary schools are taught languages it is thanks to their work that pupils can not only learn a language but also come to appreciate other cultures given its importance primary schools that are teaching languages should continue to do so funding has been given to local authorities to support primary languages until march 2011 any future funding will depend on the spending review which will report in the autumn as well as on decisions about the status of languages within the national curriculum i have also received the following statement from lid king the national director for languages the current situation is that while the proposals for the new primary curriculum based on the rose review including the proposals on languages will not now be implemented nevertheless ­ the entitlement for all children in key stage 2 to learn a language remains in place the key stage 2 framework for languages is still available to be used as a national point of reference ofsted will continue to report on primary languages earmarked funding to support primary languages is maintained until march 2011 longer term the position of primary languages will depend on the review of the curriculum which has just begun but there is good reason to suppose that ministers will favour the inclusion of languages in key stage 2 i think that we should therefore do everything possible to build on the successes of the past few years and to maintain momentum both locally and nationally in making further progress in particular on progression transition and language upskilling guidance on this year s funding was contained in the standards fund letter which stressed the importance of work force development for example through in service training and the use of teaching and foreign language assistants the relevant section of the letter as well as the specific amounts allocated can be forwarded on request longer term funding will depend on the spending review which taking place in the autumn this was however always the case and it would be premature to assume that there will be no more support for languages in key stage 2 while we await clarification and the results of the curriculum review please continue to take full advantage of the support available from the local authority this support includes the free scheme of work for ks2 french and other resources available from the mfl sunderland website these newsletters upskilling courses and podcasts conferences language assistants and the dedicated time and expertise of a support teacher and the staff at st aidan s and st anthony s sunderland s two language colleges.

[close]

p. 3

european day of languages edl the european day of languages has been celebrated on 26th september every year since 2001 it aims to celebrate the 6000 languages that are spoken in the world and the rich and diverse cultures that lie behind them and to show people across europe how important languages are and the fun that can be had learning them there are lots of ideas for how you can get involved and celebrate edl 2010 in your school in issue 9 of this newsletter www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland primary-newsletters.htm the primary teachers project would you like to spend 2 weeks in france spain or germany the primary teachers project co-ordinated by cilt and the british council could be just what you re looking for the first week of the project provides intensive language and methodology support in preparation for the job shadowing in a primary school in the second week the projects offer excellent opportunities for teachers to develop language skills deepen their cultural understanding and gain practical ideas for teaching and learning languages at ks2 applicants are eligible for eu comenius funding of up to 2,500 to pay for travel and subsistence there is also a supply cover contribution of £525 to support schools in the week of term when teachers will be abroad the deadline for applications is the 15th september 2010 this date is for all projects in france germany and spain in february and april 2011 further information including support and guidance with the application process is available at primarylanguages.org.uk/professional_development/cilt_events/primary_teachers_project.aspx if you would like to contact cilt the national centre for languages about the project then you can email ptp@cilt.org.uk host a teacher from germany if your school would like authentic german cultural input you can host a fullyqualified teacher from germany for two or three weeks there is no cost to the school visits take place between 8th and 26th november 2010 or outside these dates if more convenient and agreed with the german teacher the deadline is 22nd september for further information and a hosting form please visit www.ukgermanconnection.org/hostateacher this will be of particular interest to those schools who are working towards one of the tiers of the international school award grow story grow are you looking for something for one of your first lessons back you can access for free at www.growstorygrow.com a story about a little girl and her different feelings about being back at school it was written for primary but would also suit lower ks3 the story is in english french spanish german italian and polish and there are also resources and a lesson plan another french story that i would recommend is la famille araignée the spider family which introduces simple greetings and saying your name the story has three levels of difficulty to build up children s language there are also versions of jacques et le haricot magique jack and the beanstalk complete with puppets to make and les quatre amis the four friends you have to pay for a lot of the stories on growstorygrow but all the ones i have mentioned are free all you have to do is sign up.

[close]

p. 4

languagenut on the subject of stories why not have a look at the stories in french that languagenut have added recently to their site if you log in with the username stories and the password aregreat you can view the stories for free you ll also be able to have a look at the other resources while you are there don t forget that you can sign up for a two-week free trial of the site just go straight to www.languagenut.com free resources from europe direct europe direct based in durham have these free resources available for schools · flag bunting ­ limited to one pack per school · maps of the eu ­ limited to one per school · languages take you further booklets ­ limited to 20 per school · passport to the eu booklets ­ limited to 20 per school · united in diversity booklets limited to 20 per school · united in diversity posters ­ max 1 per class · 10 years of the euro booklet limited to 20 per school · one currency for one europe poster ­ max 1 per class · the eu what s in it for me booklet limited to 20 per school · speaking for europe ­ languages in the european union max 1 per class · combating climate change booklet limited to 20 per school · combating poverty social exclusion booklet limited to 20 per school to discuss your resource requirements or to place an order please contact europe direct by email europe.direct@durham.gov.uk or phone 0191 383 3448 you may also wish to log on to the eu bookshop website www.bookshop.europa.eu to see what other information booklets they can provide you may order one copy of a booklet yourself from the eu bookshop but if you would like multiple copies please let europe direct know because they can order up to 100 copies of most publications for you subject to availability your free resource this issue s free resource is a crossword which uses the vocabulary from the year 3 lessons of the sunderland scheme of work www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland resources-pr-fr-newsunderlandmaterials.htm you could use this for the first lesson back for those pupils who will be beginning their second year of french as revision they can fill in the crossword and then could look at the lists of words involved numbers colours family members for example and supply the ones that are missing it s also a good puzzle for those teachers who would like a bit of extra practice here are the answers for the crossword which you will find on page 6 of this newsletter newsletter produced by clare seccombe ©mfl sunderland 2010 september 2010 http www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland

[close]

p. 5

[close]

p. 6

[close]