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issue 12 january 2011 welcome welcome to the twelfth edition of the mfl sunderland primary newsletter the aim of the newsletter is to keep all teachers and headteachers 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/primarynewsletters.htm please email comments and feedback to clare.seccombe@gmail.com in this issue conference news ofsted report resources for valentine s day resources for pancake day and carnaval the future of primary languages following the publication of the schools white paper the importance of teaching in november 2010 primary languages have been in a state of limbo language professionals and associations have been working hard over the last two months to elicit some kind of response from the dfe about their future here is the latest response from mr gove s office thank you for your email and e-card of 6 december to the secretary of state regarding the importance of language teaching in primary schools as a member of the secretary of state s correspondence team i have been asked to reply and i apologise for the delay in doing so the coalition government is fully committed to the teaching of languages in schools not only for its social and economic benefits but also because learning a language helps pupils to understand the different cultures of people around the world we know that primary school teachers and others have worked very hard over the last few years to stimulate an early interest in language learning and a recent nfer study showed that 92 per cent of primary schools are now teaching foreign languages within class time at key stage 2 the government believes that learning a language at primary school can inspire children with a love of languages that will stay with them throughout their secondary education and beyond given the importance of language learning and the benefits of an early start ministers expect that the majority of primary schools that are already teaching languages will continue to do so on 7 june 2010 the minister of state for schools announced that we would be carrying out a review of the national curriculum to return it to its original purpose a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines the review will consider the place of languages within the national curriculum in both primary and secondary schools and will ensure that our core curriculum can compare with those of the highest performing countries around the world in designing the new curriculum we plan to consult a wide range of academics teachers and others with an interest in what is taught in schools more details about how to contribute to the review will be announced shortly via our website at http www.education.gov.uk and i hope that you will feel able to respond the aforementioned curriculum review http tinyurl.com/curriculumreview was launched on 20th january and closes on thursday 14th april question 20 deals with modern foreign languages the first results of the curriculum review will be announced in autumn 2012 until that time the teaching of a foreign language in ks2 remains an entitlement.

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then and now conference 2011 following the success of our primary languages conferences in 2009 and 2010 we are delighted to announce our conference for 2011 then and now this free conference will take place on thursday 17th march at the sandhill centre and full information can be found on the flyer which is at the end of this newsletter we are offering a wide range of workshops to suit all levels and if you enjoy singing in the classroom you will not want to miss the keynote address we look forward to seeing you there to guarantee your place please book by friday march 4th realising the strategic importance of languages the above event was held on january 11th in newcastle and the keynote addresses were given by baroness jean coussins chair of the all-party parliamentary group on modern languages and richard hardie chair of financial services firm ubs ltd you can download the transcripts of their addresses and other useful information here http www.linksintolanguages.ac.uk/events/2210 many primary middle and secondary schools from the region were represented and delegates were overwhelmingly in support of teaching languages in ks2 if you really want to get under the skin of another culture you need their language not just a louder voice than your own baroness coussins modern languages achievement challenge this month ofsted has published its latest report into modern language teaching across key stages 2 3 and 4 generally speaking primary languages are reviewed favourably this is from the executive summary of the report key findings · achievement was good or outstanding in just under six out of ten of the primary schools visited pupils made most progress in speaking and listening because this was where most emphasis was placed in lessons although there were good examples of systematically planned reading these were rare and even more so for writing · pupils enjoyment of language learning in the primary schools visited was very clear they were usually very enthusiastic looked forward to lessons understood why it was important to learn another language and were developing a good awareness of other cultures teaching was good in two thirds of the 235 lessons observed despite some occasional shortcomings in pronunciation and intonation primary teachers subject knowledge and their teaching methods were predominantly good senior leaders were very committed to introducing modern languages into primary schools the initiative featured well in whole-school planning with a clear rationale for how and when it would be taught and by whom weaknesses lay in assessment and the monitoring and evaluation of provision often because leaders did not feel competent enough to judge language provision · · recommendations primary schools should · build on their good work in speaking and listening including language learning strategies and knowledge about language to develop pupils early skills in reading and writing · ensure intercultural understanding is built into work where it does not yet feature prominently it is also worth noting here one of the recommendations made to secondary schools secondary schools should consider as a matter of urgency the implications of recent developments in primary languages for their curriculum in year 7 and how they build on students prior attainment

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saint valentin san valentÍn anyone who has been to the shops recently will have noticed that valentine s day is on its way although it is originally an anglo-saxon tradition valentine s day is celebrated in france and spain as well and therefore offers us an opportunity for some intercultural work i love you in french is je t aime and in spanish te quiero this webpage shows you how to say it in lots of other languages with the added bonus feature of some of them having sound files so that you can hear how to say it http www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/iloveyou.htm when the children have found out how to say i love you in a certain language can they find out where that language is spoken where the country is on a map and what its flag is http www.momes.net/dictionnaire/minidossiers/saint-valentin.html this french children s site has some good resources scroll down to coloriages for some colouring pages or bricolages for some craft activities there are some more craft ideas here http www.teteamodeler.com/dossier valentin.asp if you would like to make a valentine card with your class they could copy this comptine rhyme into it to practise copying accurately including accents and to familiarise them with written french c est aujourd hui la saint valentin j offre un cadeau à tous mes copains un message d amour un mot d amitié mon plus beau sourire ma bonne humeur et ma gaité today it s valentine s day i give a gift to all my friends a message of love a word of friendship my most beautiful smile my good mood and my cheerfulness if spanish is your language have a look here for some craft and card activities http www.primeraescuela.com/themesp/feriados/san_valentin.htm in central america the day is known as día del amor y la amistad day of love and friendship some of your class may feel happier making a card for a friend rather than for a valentine if you would like a line to write in a friendship card how about hay un amigo en mí you ve got a friend in me this is from the gipsy kings song of the same name which is played over the end credits of toy story 3 while spanish buzz dances flamenco ks2 framework for languages iu3.2 locate country/countries where the language to be studied is spoken iu4.1 learn about festivals and celebrations in different cultures knowledge about language kal year 3 imitate pronunciation recognise that many languages are spoken across the world appreciate that writing systems are different from one another contacts the primary languages steering group has been compiling a list of mfl co-ordinators in sunderland primary schools whom we can phone or email direct if you have received a copy of this newsletter to your personal email address then we already have your details if you haven t please email clare.seccombe@gmail.com and we ll make sure you are added to the list that way you ll know that you are receiving all the latest news and information about primary languages in sunderland pronunciation if you would like to try some of the resources and ideas mentioned in this newsletter but are unsure of the pronunciation of the vocabulary please consult the mfl sunderland audio files for french http www.sunderlandschools.org/mflsunderland/resources-sound-files.htm

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mardi gras et carnaval tuesday 8th march is the rather sedate shrove tuesday and pancake day in the uk in france it s mardi gras mardi gras means fat tuesday and is traditionally the day when people eat up all the fatty foods in their cupboards before the fasting of lent begins they make beignets a kind of doughnut bugnes and crêpes momes.net has a beautiful printable crêpe recipe http www.momes.net dictionnaire/c/chandeleur/fiche-recette-crepe-a-imprimer.html which is ideal for introducing children to french handwriting you can consult the same website for practice sheets for writing letters in the french way http www.momes.net education/ecriture/graphismes.html scroll down to the bottom to the par ordre alphabétique section why not challenge your class to write their names in the french style cross-curricular art on the subject of crêpes there are plenty of ready-made ones available in the supermarkets these days you could invite your class to try crêpes with different fillings and then express some simple opinions about what they like and don t like for example j aime i like je n aime pas i don t like je préfère i prefer la crêpe au jambon the pancake with ham la crêpe au fromage the pancake with cheese la crêpe à la confiture the pancake with jam la crêpe au citron the pancake with lemon here is a lovely poem about eating crêpes quand on fait des crêpes chez nous ma mère vous invite quand on fait des crêpes chez nous elle vous invite tous une pour toi une pour moi une pour mon p tit frère françois une pour toi une pour moi une pour tous les trois when we make pancakes at our house my mother invites you when we make pancakes at our house she invites you all one for you one for me one for my little brother françois one for you one for me one for all three of us bugnes beignets de carnaval the period leading up to mardi gras is carnaval people dress up eat what they want and generally celebrate one of the most famous carnivals in france is carnaval de nice which starts this year on 18th february and finishes on 8th march find out more at www.nicecarnaval.com where you can also read about the history of the carnival in english there is information about the carnival characters here http tinyurl.com/yc385fd and some online colouring in french here http www.coloriage.tv/arlequin-coloriage if you would like to make some carnaval masks with your class there are some templates and instructions here http www.teteamodeler.com/boiteaoutils creativite/fiche256.asp#a your free resource this issue s free resource is a short text describing the origins of valentine s day reading skills in the foreign language were identified in the recent modern languages ofsted report as being a weakness in ks2 and this activity sets out to show you and the children that reading and working out the meaning of a longer text is not as difficult as you might think the resource shows some activities that the children can do to help them to understand it you will find some more possible activities in this document http www.sunderlandschools.org/mflsunderland/resources/textexploit.doc this resource is most suitable for y5 and y6 newsletter produced by clare seccombe ©mfl sunderland 2011 january 2011 http www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland

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l origine de la saint valentin le quatorze février c est la saint valentin valentin est le patron des amoureux il y a plusieurs versions de l histoire du saint valentin par exemple saint valentin est un prêtre qui était emprisonné et décapité le quatorze février l histoire raconte que les enfants aimaient beaucoup valentin il était leur ami pour le réconforter les enfants lui passaient des messages d affection à travers les barreaux de sa cellule c est peut-être l explication des petits mots qu on échange avec des fleurs et des cadeaux le quatorze février 1 look at the title and the pictures what do you think the text is about underline all the french words that you know tell the others on your table what they mean circle the cognates share the cognates that you have found with the others on your table use a french dictionary to find the english meanings of these words amoureux plusieurs prêtre leur mot cadeau you could also use an online dictionary like www.wordreference.com when you have completed activities 1 2 3 and 4 have a go at explaining in english what the text is telling you 2 3 4 5 a cognate is a french word which looks very like an english word and means the same as that english word for example papier and paper ©mfl sunderland 2011 cs http www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland

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l origine de la saint valentin le quatorze février c est la saint valentin valentin est le patron des amoureux teacher s sheet il y a plusieurs versions de l histoire du saint valentin par exemple saint valentin est un prêtre qui était emprisonné et décapité le quatorze février l histoire raconte que les enfants aimaient beaucoup valentin il était leur ami pour le réconforter les enfants lui passaient des messages d affection à travers les barreaux de sa cellule c est peut-être l explication des petits mots qu on échange avec des fleurs et des cadeaux le quatorze février the origin of valentine s day the 14th february is valentine s day valentine is the patron saint of lovers there are several versions of the story of st valentine for example st valentine is a priest who was imprisoned and decapitated on the 14th february the story says recounts that children loved valentine a lot he was their friend to comfort him the children passed messages of affection through the bars of his cell it s perhaps the explanation of the little words that we exchange with flowers and gifts on 14th february ©mfl sunderland 2011 cs http www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland

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