Modern Languages Blog

Tuesday 15 September 2009
Crawfurd Comples, University of Strathclyde.

Are you a teacher of primary languages? Whether it’s French, German, Gaelic or Spanish please come along to Scottish CILT’s annual conference – MLPS: Building for the Curriculum. This one-day conference will offer the opportunity to share examples of work in primary schools during the trialling period, and also to observe innovative practice which has been identified in schools throughout Scotland. There will also be workshops to discuss assessment, evaluation and planning.

http://www.strath.ac.uk/scilt/events/headline_193959_en.html
Word file: Building the curriculum application

PDF file: MLPS Building the Curriculum programme

PDF file: Seminar Groups for the conference

A new area entitled Building your curriculum has been added to the Curriculum for Excellence website. This section offers materials designed to help schools and other establishments in designing curriculum structures that reflect the features set out in ‘Building the Curriculum 3′ and meet their local contexts and priorities.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/buildingthecurriculum/buildingyourcurriculum/index.asp

Live Lesson for MFL: Live lesson for Language Learning

Code: E1D

Speakers: Josephine Hall, macrobert mPOWER Festival, Head of Outreach and Mentoring

Seminar Date: 23 September 2009

Start Time: 15:00

Live Lesson for Languages is a programme of teacher professional development, awareness raising and resource development built around the use of foreign language short films in language teaching.

Modern Languages: The Experiences and Outcomes in Practice

Code: M1G

Speakers: Learning and Teaching Scotland Development Officer

Seminar Date: 24 September 2009

Start Time: 10:30

Key issues in planning for the experiences and outcomes in Modern Languages. Participants will learn about interesting and innovative practices that will help to provide further explanation and exemplification.  The speakers will include practitioners who will highlight approaches and practical activities they have undertaken – and the responses of children and young people.  Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the issues raised and to share their views and experiences.

There’s a lot of activity for Modern Foreign Languages teachers in the next few months.

Scottish CILT is established in its new home at Strathclyde University and is hosting a workshop on the ‘European Language Portfolio’ on 27th August, in partnership with the Council of Europe. Contact SCILT for details.

SCILT has also organised its ‘National Primary Languages in Practice’ conference for 15th September at Jordanhill campus, and delegates need to be nominated by their local authorities.

September also sees the Scottish Learning Festival return to the SECC for the usual mix of keynotes, presentations, demos and exhibitors. And the ‘European Day of Languages’ on 26th September provides a focal point for celebratory activity in schools and other settings.

Finally, the annual SALT (Scottish Association of Language Teachers) conference is in Stirling on 7th November, and this year’s event has Curriculum for Excellence as its theme

The main theme of this year’s event is Curriculum for Excellence: Making the Change.

The exhibition features 200 organisations, as well as the Scottish Education Village and the Learning in Practice area. New opportunities for interaction are provided through a series of Discussion Zone sessions, and the Education Showcase will host launches, demonstrations, and performances.

The Scottish Learning Festival contributes to continuing professional development, sharing innovative practice for the classroom, and is a showcase for new teaching resources for the 21st century.

The full programme and latest information are available on the Scottish Learning Festival website.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/slf/

Last Monday, Scottish CILT hosted the first virtual event for languages teachers through Glow – Scotland’s national school intranet. They invited practitioners from the primary and secondary sectors to share their experiences of interdisciplinary work and had examples from each sector as the focus of the event.
Read more…

Register online at www.scottishlearningfestival.org.uk or call the ticket hotline on 0870 421 1938, for keynotes, spotlight and seminars.

Highlights for modern languages include:

Live Lesson for MFL: Short Film and Moving Image Texts lighting up Language LearningCode: E1D Seminar Date: 23 September 2009 Start Time: 15:00

Modern Languages: The Experiences and Outcomes in Practice

Code: M1G  Seminar Date: 24 September 2009 Start Time: 10:30

The British Council’s Chief Executive, Martin Davidson, has announced new international opportunities for Scottish schools to link with partners from the Middle East to Latin America, marking the continued growth of British Council programmes in Scotland.

Read more from the British Council and find out more about Connecting Classrooms.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm

The Curriculum for Excellence website has published the modern languages experiences and outcomes online

You can also create and save your own personalised groups of outcomes for planning use. Find out more from http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/languages/modernlanguages/index.asp?

Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, and Keith Brown, Minister for Schools and Skills, formally launched the Curriculum for Excellence guidance on Thursday 2 April in Stirling. 

The reforms are intended to raise standards by improving learning and teaching with literacy and numeracy a key focus. They will help our young people to become:

• successful learners with the motivation for learning
• confident individuals with physical, mental and emotional wellbeing and self-respect
• responsible citizens with respect for others
• effective contributors who can communicate, solve problems and be enterprising and creative.’

Curriculum for Excellence –  http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/index.asp 

Experiences and outcomes for Modern languages – http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/languages/modernlanguages/index.asp

Experiences and outcomes – http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/experiencesandoutcomes/index.asp