Secondary Languages Direct newsletter - Issue 3 - July 2008

Welcome
Welcome to the summer edition of the CILT secondary ezine. We hope that you are continuing to enjoy this way of gathering and sharing information and ideas amongst language teaching professionals.

Once again there is a wide range of new material, written by practising teachers and advisers – in preparation for the European Day of Languages on September 26th we have included a number of articles on how schools are developing and fostering international links that go way beyond the traditional!

Do continue to let us know your views on this new format and do let us have any links or articles that you would like to see included in future editions. Don’t be modest – share your thoughts, practice, questions and answers with your colleagues so that everyone can benefit from this collaborative and stimulating way of working.

All good wishes and a very happy summer break,

Carmel O’Hagan
Head of Secondary Education
CILT, the National Centre for Languages

Innovation

China Day at Neatherd High School, Norfolk

International links and partnerships

It all began back in 2003 with a formal partnership which over the past few years has turned into friendship and collaboration between a number of Norfolk schools and partner schools in the Xuhui district of Shanghai. Read more

Having successfully hosted a Hungarian British Council Comenius Assistant in 2006, Maidstone Grammar School decided to bid to run a new British Council Comenius project this year jointly with two primary partner schools: Allington Primary and South Borough Primary schools. Read more

Our students were perfect ambassadors for our schools and our country: eager to participate and to ask questions; challenging their own values and perceptions; and appreciative of the generous reception we received. Read more

Classroom innovation

Deutsch durch Drama und Musik - a German Gifted & Talented Course: all in 20 hours! What more could your students want? Read more

Any language learning experience or course, no matter if it starts in year 3 or year 10 or even in adulthood, needs to have at its core the development of skills. And this development of skills cannot remain implicit, in the background or camouflaged by the topic or content, because that’s when learners are unable to see the patterns or make the links. Read more

Sheffield's Business Language Champion group students pictured beneath the 24 hour world time zone clocks in the Rosling

Working in partnership

Students at Sheffield's Meadowhead School and Language College are helping city-based Gripple improve communications with its French visitors in the latest part of an initiative to promote the value of languages in business. Read more

We’ve built the network but how do we take it forward? The Halesowen Development Group describes an excellent example of SLCs, secondary schools and primary schools working together as part of the CILT ELL-LC project. The focus is very much on moving on for both teachers and pupils. Read more

News

Celebrate, Educate, Appreciate!
CILT has launched the Celebrate, Educate, Appreciate campaign to give you the information and resources you need to convey positive messages about languages to teenagers on the European Day of Languages (26 September). Read more

The LAFTAs People’s Vote
The Languages and Film Talent Awards (LAFTAs), which invited young people aged 13-21 to make two-minute videos about the importance of languages, received a fantastic total of over 160 entries from across the UK. Multilingual Vacancies are now hosting a People’s Vote, giving pupils the chance to vote on their favourite clips to choose which one will win a special prize at the LAFTAs award ceremony taking place in London this September. Read more

European Award for Languages winners
A list of the groundbreaking languages initatives selected for this year's European Award for Languages is now available on the CILT website. Winning secondary projects range from mixing languages with football to filmmaking in Europe and designing products to sell in Spain. Read more

Key Stage 3 - CILT and The National Strategies working in partnership
Phase 1 of the Key Stage 3 Dissemination and Development Programme was successfully completed in April 2008. Phase 2 is now underway.

Several strategic learning networks (SLNs) are organizing celebratory events before the end of term or to coincide with the European day of languages to showcase their achievements. Teachers in the programme report that they have valued the opportunities to work together in a productive and structured way, share ideas and resources and to improve pupil achievement and motivation.
Read more

There are 3 new case studies on the website: www.cilt.org.uk/ks3/case_studies.htm

The National Strategies are pleased to announce that they have been given the remit to carry out the renewal of the Framework for teaching modern foreign languages: Years 7, 8 and 9. Read more

14 to 19

New videos and case studies on 14 to 19 microsite
Fifteen new case studies and 57 new video clips have been added to CILT’s 14 to 19 Reshaping Languages microsite since its launch on 1 April. Read more

Reshaping languages - ICT sub-theme
Our recently launched 14 to 19 microsite is being continually updated and now contains a whole new sub-theme on using ICT in language lessons. There are clear instructions on how to enliven your language teaching by the use of digital audio and video, interactive whiteboards, podcasts, social networking sites and authoring software. All of these are supported by interesting case studies from schools where these ideas have been successful. Read more

Reshaping languages - the new GCSE from 2009
Another addition to the microsite is a whole section with frequently asked questions on the new GCSE which will be introduced in September 2009. An analysis of visitors to the site has shown us that the GCSE section is the most frequently visited one and we wanted to respond to the need for more information and have provided a comparison of what the different awarding bodies are offering so that teachers can make an informed decision. Read more

Making Languages our Business held at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School, hospital simulation

CILT 14-19 Learning Networks
There has been lots of interesting work going on in the CILT 14-19 networks all around the country. The networks provide a regional structure for development, with a view to subsequent national dissemination of effective practice. From 2008, the emphasis will be on national replication of these models via the Comenius Network. Replication toolkits are being added to the website which will assist those wishing to replicate good practice in their own area. Some toolkits which have been added recently include advice on how to replicate the NVQ model in your own area and how to set up 'Making Languages our Business' events. Other toolkits are currently being added. Read more

We would like to invite you to visit the site and complete our short online questionnaire so that we can continue to add materials to the 14-19 reshaping languages microsite that you want to read about. www.cilt.org.uk/14to19/

Latest news on languages in the Diplomas and the new Languages Diploma
Developments for teaching Diplomas linked to the first five lines of learning in 2008 are continuing apace. Languages can be included as an option in the Additional/ Specialist component and can count towards performance indicators. CILT is interested in hearing from any consortium which is interested in including a language option in Diplomas so that we can support you and share your good practice.

Development has also begun on the discrete Languages Diploma which will be available for teaching from 2011. For further information on languages in the Diplomas and the support that CILT can offer, visit the Diploma section of the CILT website. For information on performance indicators visit the DCSF site, 'Languages at Key Stage 4: 10 Questions and Answers for School Leaders.'

Community languages

Our Languages launches at National Conference
The website for Our Languages, a groundbreaking project funded by the DCSF, was launched at this year’s Community Languages National Conference on Wednesday 11 June. The project supports the teaching and learning of community languages through partnerships between complementary and mainstream schools. The new website, hosted by CILT, includes case studies, training and event information, video clips and a database of schools teaching community languages. www.ourlanguages.org.uk

As part of the innovative project “Our Languages”, DCSF funded Supplementary schools project, which aims to support teaching and learning in Community languages by creating partnerships between mainstream and supplementary (or complementary) schools, we are organising regional training days for Community languages teachers. These are free of charge! Read more

Coming imminently

New guidelines and case studies from Phase 1 of the CILT Transition project will be available on the CILT website imminently.

The case studies – developed by partnerships of Local Authority primary and secondary and in some case middle schools working together – include resources and materials that can be used by all who are interested. There are a number of specific themes including modular approaches to Year 7, passing on records from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3, using the European Languages Portfolio, doing “old” things in new ways, storytelling and PE.

There will also be details about the national transition conference that CILT is running in the autumn term and further regional conferences – all of which are free of charge.

Training opportunities

French and Italian courses abroad
CILT is running three more courses abroad this Autumn, including two for secondary French and Italian teachers: Vive la France a Besancon (22 October – 1 November 2008) and Italiano alla Fiorentina (23 October –1 November 2008). The courses offer teachers the chance to brush up on language skills and culture through a lively mix of discussions, workshops and a full recreational programme. The deadline for funding from the British Council has passed, but if you can fund the course yourself, please do apply. Read more

Languages in Higher Education Conference 2008
The next Languages in Higher Education Conference will take place at the University of York on Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 July. The conference will be of interest to all those concerned with languages in higher education, as well those working in other sectors bordering on higher education, such as secondary schools, FE and adult education. Read more

Resources, new, recent and forthcoming

Would you like information on new, recent and forthcoming resources, including provision for German GCSE and ICT solutions to grammar practice? Read more

Research

Three new reports from research into languages teaching and learning in English schools, commissioned by the DCSF, are now available on the DCSF website.

The first two are briefs from ongoing research examining Key Stage 2 language learning across England - the full timescale of research is 2006-2009.

1. The quantitative part of the survey - This research brief follows from an interim report published in June 2007 on the 2006 findings. The findings for the 2007 survey indicate an increase in the number of schools teaching languages at Key Stage 2 - up from 70% in autumn 2006 to 84% in autumn 2007.
Language Learning Provision at Key Stage 2: Findings from the 2007 Survey (pdf, 67.2 KB) by NFER, The National Foundation for Educational Research

2. The qualitative part of the survey - This is the first research brief from this investigation which is tracking pupils and teachers in case study schools - amongst other things, the research is examining, motivation, progression, attainment and the impact of languages on learning and standards across the curriculum.
Language Learning at Key Stage 2: A Longitudinal Study: Interim Findings from the First Year (pdf, 66.8KB) by Christ Church University Canterbury, the Open Univesity and the University of Southampton

3. The third report is interim findings from research examining the impact of the KS3 Framework and changes to the KS3 curriculum. This is part of a 2 year study by the University of Cambridge, commissioned by the DCSF. Language Learning at Key Stage 3: The Impact of the Key Stage 3 Modern Foreign Languages Framework and changes to the curriculum on provision and practice (pdf, 84.4KB) by University of Cambridge

The DCSF press release regarding the new research includes comments from the schools Minister Jim Knights and can be found on the DCSF press releases pages.

The CILT statistics pages for primary have break downs of data from the 2008 and 2007 NFER reports (which would be useful for making comparisons with the new figures released last week) and further information on other primary languages research.

The CILT statistics pages for secondary, includes a recent addition: details of GCSE languages uptake by local authority for 2007 compiled by CILT from DCSF sources.

We welcome your contributions for future issues. Please send your submissions to:
Carmel O’Hagan at CILT, 3rd Floor, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7HR or Carmel.O’Hagan@cilt.org.uk
We reserve the right to edit items submitted. If you have any suggestions or comments, please contact Carmel O’Hagan. The views expressed in this e-bulletin are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect any view or policy of CILT.
The Bulletin may be copied or printed for non-commercial purposes provided the source is acknowledged.

Subscribing
If you would prefer not to receive Secondary Languages Direct, simply send a message and we'll remove you from our list. If you've been forwarded this message and would like to subscribe to Secondary Languages Direct, please click here.