Get ready for Christmas (DFE POS)

Last year we shared the resources you can access here in "Christmas and all that Jazz" with our DFE POS local network member schools.Some of the resources were also shared on line via my November and December 2014  blog posts on  Primary Language Learnng Today.You will find additional activities too here that we added as we worked our way through the  run up to Christmas. there is a common thread running through quite a few of them based upon "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".The activities range from very simple to more challenging.The activities can be used in KS1 and KS2.The intention is that these activities can help you to create a whole school focus and to encourage all teachers to join in.We have used the theme of "stars" as a springboard to create language learning activities which explores DFE POs learning ojectives and also offer opportuniities to learn and perform the song of course!

There are4 other activities too - such as the Rudolph and his nose so bright "Knock !Knock ! Who is there ?" speaking activity. the speaking and writing triaramas and  a  story power point "I love Christmas" to allow you to create story boards,written texts  and  drama and spoken performances (perhaps for a Christmas assembly  with more advanced learners .We are sharing the ideas early - so that you can spend some time deciding in which weeks and with which classes and for what purposes you may like to use the ideas and resources.We hope you enjoy them .

You can learn more about the ideas and how to use them here in this You Tube clip

To access the resources you will need to register as an online delegate for DFE Project  materials here 

To revisit the site once you have a username and password then you will click on the Online Delegate Login here.

I have demonstarted at the start of the You Tube clip how to access these pages from the home page of the website Primary Languages Network

"Going back to school"(DFE POS) and exploring reading and writing!

Let's explore reading! In a couple of weeks (19 November) Vicky Cooke  will be in Warrington sharing her wonderful ideas on ways to practise and develop reading skills in the target language.This is part of our DFE POS WTSA/JLN Language Learning for Everyone project.The CPD sessions just like the "local network meetings" in the first half term of each school term  are free and  everyone is welcome. In our "LNMs" around the North West last half term to set the scene for the Let's Read CPD with Vicky we consider ways to show, share, explore and use text creatively. The downloadable resources help broaden vocabulary, understand basic grammar and speak and write in full sentences (describing people,places and objects ) in line with the DFE POS learning objectives.They can potentially help you consider ways to develop deeper ,more cross curricular learning.School and the language around school is an area lots of us teach so we have explored this theme in a variety of ways! There are  various AfL games to revisit  basic school content,there is a  back to school in the 1950s and 1960s in France and Spain ppt and with the help of Little Red Languages we have animated "Aliens go to School" stories.These stories are accompanied  by lesson guides so that you can investigate the structure, the language and the content... before becoming creative with some of the content in the slides.This online tutorial explains this better! (The sound on the animated stories is clear when you play them for the children but in the You tube tutorial below the native speaker sound is not as clear)

To download the resources described above and those shown in the video clip simply register as an online delegate here on this DFE online training page  and you can return to these resources after registering via the online delegate button on the same page.

And finally today from Woolston CP we received these "outer space" school bookmarks -created by Year 5 after reading the story, investiugating the language and focusing creatively on the slide all about the alien's choice of reading book in his  Literacy lesson! Brilliant! 

Can you read this?

This is a very interesting title! Can you read this? It's the Autumn menu  2015 of a restaurant in Salamana.

In this instance the question behind the question "Can you read this?  is actually "Do you know what you are about to eat?" I am  a  basic survival Spanish speaker and last week on a visit to Spain with teaching colleagues.I had to use all my language knowledge to access the Spanish language! It made me realise the value of the bilingual dictionary and the need to help learners no matter what their age to become comfortable with and able to access the  language in such a resource! 

You see one of our meals was very interesting indeed! "Pigs ear" for a starter and then "deer" soup to follow.Just how did we know what we were eating? Well we didn't until we looked it up ....or until one of our colleagues fluent in the language suggested possibilities.Even when you are fluent,there are times aren't there, when you look at menu and have an idea... but are not exactly sure what all of the ingredients are! 

So where am I going with this blog post? I think language learning needs to be accessible to all and the bilingual dictionary is one of the linguist's magic tricks that needs sharing from the start! It's not just a resource to look up words or to check definitions.The bilingual dictionary opens the window on the written word and once the learner has a command of the phonic rules of language, it can be a reference point too for the comprehension of spoken language.

So how would I use this menu to engage our young learners in an investigation of language using the bilingual dictionary?  Well .....

1. Let's set the scene .What time of year is it and how do we know? Can we find the proof in the dictionary?
2. Why not consider creating a menu for a different season? Can we access and say / write our other three key words for the seasons?
3. Let's investigate the menu! Can we find  language we can take and use again in a menu about  any season?
4. Let's be specific and identify the  dishes and the ingredients on the menu .Which do we think we would like to try or not like to try? Let's cross reference (in this example from Spanish to English the language) ...as some of the ingredients we may not be certain about or even imagine we can eat!
5. Let's discuss culture here too - what do we find acceptable to eat and what do others find acceptable to eat?Why is this cultural difference something to celebrate?
6. Now let's be creative.Let's consider menus with a seasonal twist! Add unusual ingredients or create a menu for characters/ animals etc associated with a specifc season....and then let's ask our co-learners "Can you read this?" 

So starting with a simple question "Can you read this?" ...we have explored: 

• reading skills
• bilingual dictionary skills
• culture and similarities and differences
• using the bilingual dictionary to be indepently creative in our speaking and writing! 

DFE POS and Fantastical Fireworks.

Here is our first online DFE POS teacher tutorial based on "Bonfire Night". The activities are devised to help schools explore the teaching and delivery of the objectives of listening  attentively and responding, exploring sounds and patterns of words, reading aloud, performing and understanding basic grammar. We hope that there is whole school engagement too as the activities are designed so that they can be delivered by specialist and/or non-specialist teachers.

As part of the DFE funded WTSA/PLN  Language Learning for Everyone we have been offering local North West schools the opportunity to attend twilight network meetings where we have looked at the DFE POS for KS2. In the second year of the DFE project roll out we are now sharing these resources with a wider audience via social media. 

This is the first in a series of blog posts and You Tube clips where we will share our DFE project resources, ideas and CPD with a wider audience.Watch out for our Christmas and all that Jazz, Carnival and World Book Day, Going to the Seaside and Aliens at School blog posts which will follow over the next couple of months. The packages have resources and activities that can be shared and used by all the teachers. The intention is that the activities are simple and easy to deliver and that the teachers will grow in confidence in their own ability to deliver some primary language teaching.

You can access and download the Powerpoint presentations and sound files mentioned in this You Tube click below by clicking on the link at the end of the blog post, entering your details and automatically receiving the username and password for the resources as a DFE online delegate. 

Please register as an "Online Delegate" to access these resources - click here 

To access Online Delegate Resources after you have login details - click here

Assessment within our network

More of our schools this year want to begin the process of assessing the progress of their language learners from Year 3 to Year 6 in the four skills of listening,speaking ,reading and writing.Over the last couple of years colleagues and I have tried to find a clear and easy pathway through assessment.This has taken time and there is yet more no doubt to do.However this year we are able to offer schools assessment packages for Year 3,4,5 and 6.

Here are the important facts about our assessment process

• Our assessment is skill based and populated with the content of the SOW,however.our network assessment framework is created in such a way that a teacher could populate the skill tests with their own content as long as the task meets the stage descriptor for the specific skill i.e listening,speaking,reading,writing
• We are aware that Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 could all be at "stage one" in skill development in some schools.We ask our schools to consider carefully whether their learners further up in KS2 are stage 1, 2, 3 or 4 in skill development .This means that teachers with children in Y6 could be using  for example the Year 4 stage assessment benchmarks to assess progress.
• We use the terms "emerging, meeting and exceeding" as these are being used quite widely in other subject areas to assess progress aagianst national descriptors.
• We have tried to align our core skill (listening,speaking,reading and writing) descriptors to three key learning guides - the DFE POS learning objectives for KS2, the Y3-Y6 learning objectives for the four core skills in the KS2 Framework and to loosely align these to the CEFR levels (A1 and some A2).
•  This year we are creating half term by half term  "Puzzle It Out" sheets as a guide to both teachers and children.These contain quick and manageable activities and can be an integral  part of the lesson.There is one activity per core skill and these can be used in all languages and can be kept as evidence in the children's individual record folders etc. Individual activities can be done at differnet times and in different lessons.Once again teachers can change the content in the activity as these are word documents but adhere to the task outline so as to meet the assessment benchmark core skill descriptor level.
• The assessment  timetable varies in indiividual schools.Some schools are assesssing half term by half term, some are assessing once per term.
• The assessments  are not  end of unit tests .These are skill based tests and therefore in some schools they can be spread out, so that selected assessment tests occur three times over the school year for example.
• To be secure in meeting a skill level , we would expect to see a child have recorded level of  "meeting" three times in the school year.To enable as many children as possible to achieve this some schools may need to deliver additional test opportunities if they have opted for the 3 times per year assessment
• Some schools assess all the children and others are assessing a sample. More schools are now opting for full cohort assessment beacuse our process is very manageable and will gove a clear picture of progress for all children.
• A spread sheet is provided which automatically shares a class summary and graph of progress for SLT.
• We offer our teachers within the network online ,email and face to face support to develop their assessment processes plus there are teacher tutorials on line to support members of staff within schools.

You can find out more here.

Gathering evidence

This year more than ever colleagues are asking me when I am out and about in school about ways to gather and keep evidence of the work children are doing in primary language learning.Here are a couple of ways that I know are really being used and are working! Tried and tested over several years within our network.Thanks to those who have inspired the ideas!

The target language country school postbox idea was a solution of mine that  I came up with almost two years ago to help a school starting off with French.The teachers are non-specialists and the challenge was three-fold at the time - how to encourage colleagues to participate in the teaching and learning of languages, how to celebrate success and how to help teachers when they were stuck!  The post box was placed outside the classroom door of the designated subject coordinator (who had some language knowledge) and over the course of the year the children posted activities they enjoyed, messages from their class teacher about the progress they were making as language learning class and questions they as a class needed answering about challenges in parts of language that they had met in the lesson.It still works and is an integral part of the language learning process in school.Last Thursday another colleague who had heard about the idea Told me how she had implemented a similar system in her school and how valuable it was as the subject coordinator as a collection postbox that the could empty from time to time and collect and collate informal evidence of the children's learning and the school developing as a language learning envrionment.sSo that's the first suggestion of a way to gather evidence.I really like the idea aswell that the postbox is a target language country postbox too!

Our second idea that schools we have  shared with our network and quite a few schools have now begun to make their own is a simple "sparkling" record of what takes space in the classroom.A young NQT in one of our schools wanted to keep a record of what one of our associate teacher's was delivering with her pupls in the classroom because she wasn't always in class at the time.It kepy her informed ,reinofrced with the children that hse thought the learning was important and meant that she was able to discuss progress with the children.She created a "Sparkling Spanish Book" .It is an idea adopted across the whole of KS2 in the school now.Two children are the book monitors for half a term and their responsibility is to take a photo of something interesting when it  happens.They stick it in the sparkolng record book.They must also write several interesting and informative sentences in english at the end of the lesson in the book - so that the class teacher can follow this up via discussion later in the week.Now we have "Fantastic French" books too.Just keep them hung up in the classroom and take them down and take a look through with your class .Some teachers are using them as memory joggers - to prompt children to remember and use prior learning etc later in the term or year.They can get handed on from year to year too!

Emilie loves her virtual suitcases that we started about three years ago .Other colleagues have followed suit .This is an end of year activity.Pack your virtual suitcase with a favourite class song file , a favourite game and instructions how to play this , a favourite story file and perhaps some photos.Our VLE will be a great way to do this from this year onwards as each class can have its own folder in your own shared area.At the start of the next year - the suitcase can be unpacked and shared and discussed with the new class teacher.As a subject coordinator you will have an very useful record of evidence too to share with visitors and SLT!

We have devised different ways to collect spoken and written evidence - all part of the SOW

Here is one example just right for Autumn  which colleagues used to great effect - Writing and reviewing progress with Autumn leaves

You may also like to take a look at this idea .Creating "superheroes of our young language learners and explaining that they are developing special comminication powers.Collect and collate  their developing own AfL superhero messages to inform your next steps. Here is the original blogpost.This is a new idea this year - so let's see how it turns out!

Superhero AfL messages

Grammar and success in primary languages

So do you see the rabbit or the duck? Do you see grammar in primary language learning as the elephant in the room? Are some of your staff concerned about how they can teach grammar in primary languages with limited language knowledge themselves? Well we have seen in our network that there can be a positive shift in perspective, and one of the ways we have been helped colleagues and schools to achieve this over the last coupleof years is to take the fear out of the very word "grammar" and generate learning opportunties with  "grammar" as a creative primary learning exploratory experience.

We want our young learners over four years in KS2 to feel confident in the use of target language nouns (for example for both teachers and children the words "*masculine/feminine/neuter/indefinite/definite/singular/plural2 can strike fear!). We want our young learners to recognise and be able to use adjectives and to try to accurately and more often than not successfully place them  next to a noun in a phrase or a sentence. We want our young learners to build up a bank of questions and answers using verbs and to be able to access verbs as infinitives and try to accurately use the correct part of the verb with the personal pronoun  from a presnet tnese paradigm of the verb in the sentences they want to say and write. The statements above in this paragraph can cause  constrenation, fear or if we shift perspective a great creative problem solving learning opportunity!

Here are some of the ways we have recently created to help teachers and children enjoy exploring nouns, verbs and adjectives and limiting fear and maximising success and creativity!

Putting the learning of grammar in to a familiar game or context. Here is our game to practise how to use familoar nouns and to find and use new nouns I Spy Nouns

Putting physicality in to the learning  of language ,to aid memory and to practise for instance paradigms of common useful verbs. Here is our Rugby Haka

Putting creativity in to the practise of the use of structures in sentences,r4eady to use in a communicative and performance based series of activities. Teabags full of adjectives and flavour is an activity that allows your children to practise the routine of applying adjectival agreements and to be creative too with grammar! This all leads very nicely to a "Madhatters Tea Party" and the use of grammar to build a conversation and a written menu too!

Put the learning in to the context of the primary school calendar.Here we are building descriptive sentences using Autumn leaves .to remind us of the structures we need to put in to our sentences.

Hopefully by considering grammar as the creative primary centred scaffold on which to build the language and communication activities we are helping schools and children to see how and why to develop their basic understanding of grammar. 

Giving content a purpose

On Thursday last week I was training subject coordinators.Several of the coordinators were new to the role and  a conversation  sprang up between some of them based upon an informal comment:"So what language do you teach?".This wasn't a discussion about which target language to teach rather about the substance and content the school teaches. The picture at the top of the blog post is full of colour and wonderful spices and ingredients, schools want to offer this colour and variety in their teaching.They need a recipe that works to start them off and then to develop their own variations and approaches that work.

My recipe includes language learning skills linked to the DFE POS Learning Objectives, phonics and exploring patterns of letters and sounds,exploring and  learning how to build sentences and a growing knowledge of structure and components of a simple sentence, use of  bilingual dictionaries and sound files to help independence. Teachers and children also need content upon which to hang their learning hats!   

We were looking at the DFE POS.It would have been easy to say "Well  follow the DFE POS and the learning objectives" but would that have been fair? Well , the objectives address  the skills we are developing.These skills should help our young learners can move more easily from one foreign language to another in ther future education, careers and lives. so yes it is important that we follow the learning objectives.In doing so we need to unpack the stages the learner must go through to become competent and to achieve success in each of the learning objectives. In the group were teachers, whose schools are developing a creative curriculum. So where does a history focus or  an Art focus fit in with language learning? Well we have seen in our own network how linking language learning to a cross curricular focus sparks children and teachers' enthusiasm and interest and gives the language learning vibrant purpose. Both the DFE POS learning objectives and linking language learning across the curriculum or building this in to part of the whole school learning approach offers purpose and creates a place for language learning in the primary curriculum.What we mustn't forget is that teachers and children need to start somewhere and they  need purposeful content to make their learning grow.Hence the picture of planting seeds below.

Over the last 20 years or so I have been engaged in primary language teaching.I was a secondary teacher at the start and found myself falling in to the trap of bringing the secindary curriculum down to primary.Soon found this wasn't necessarily appropriate.However some fo the basic language has remained - core language we call it- numbers, colours, days of the week, months, gteetings, farewells, polite requests, likes , dislikes, personal information. Its relevance remains of course!.This core content gives teachers with limited language knowledge a starting point,We go on to teach key focuses  and as an experienced primary teacher I know that we can diversify and lock in to another area of the curriculum or focus on  a language learning skill etcetra.What I also know is that by keeping core content, teachers with limited language knowledge feel the teaching and learning is accessible .In turn their children feel they are progressing in communicating  about every day matters (but in another language!).From the core content and simple focuses more exciting and cross curricular learning oppprtunities can grow.Maybe the focus has been on simple weather phrases but next the children and teacher can explore extreme weather conditions.Maybe the children and teachers are focusing on colours and but later in the year can revisit colours and explore a famous painting.Running throughout  are the development of learning skills and the  development  of language learning skills. In my opinion it is about nurturing this successful progression and offering guidance and support.  

Here is a look at how we do this with our VLE !

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Limited content, maximising skill practise!

Above are the numbers 1 to 10 in Swedish.Today working with a group of primary teachers with a range of language competency and different target language knowledge, we considered how a little content can go along way to exploring skills of language learning and primary approaches to learning in general.

Sometimes we get tangled up in content and quantity of content. Progress in language learning is surely also about the development of useful learning skills. Just how do we, as the grown ups in the room, know which language our young learners may use in the future? What we do all know though, is that the skills of learning a language are transferable and no matter how extensive or limited our own skills are, it is these skills that have allowed us to access language and communication.we can set up activities with limited content that support the development of language learning skills.

Today with a new group of coordinators we set about exploring this and how this could be taken back to school, shared in a staff CPD and  how members of staff could be encouraged to try oout the activities and allow for embedding of language learning as a natural part of the class learning time.

Initially we were exploring "listening attentively and responding by joining in"(a DFE learning objective).You see, when it is new language you need to listen and physically respond before you want to speak on your own.I decided to look at Swedish, firstly  because I know some numbers and secondly because I hoped none of the others in the room would know any Swedish ! It worked a treat!. We discussed engagement of the learner  too - just why should a learner listen? How we need to give purpose and reason to a simple activity such as listening and responding and then repeating the sounds.Well in this instance the listening was necessary to participate in the games that followed. We also discussed how so many learners need to see the words too - so we wrote them down on the third time of listening and there was relief on some faces! I understand this perfectly as my hearing isn't that good - and probably never has been, but I love words and the look and shape of words!  

This led to a pair activity where I just asked the delegates to talk with a partner about any links whatsoever they could see between the Swedish numbers as both sounds and words with other languages.Brilliant - they were now trying to recall,to say and to read the words ....without actually realising how many times they were practising the Swedish. I added a twist by asking the teachers to look for and say the nubers that had two consonants at the start of the numbers.To only say the numbers that were CVC words at the start, to only say the numbers that had the "oh" sound in them etc! Links with literacy etc etc .....

Hopefully here you are getting the drift that a limited amount of teacher knowledge, input and content was taking these learners of Swedish on quite a journey .Now we were in to reading and recognition of familiar words, looking for hooks to recognise and remember words too and saying the new words independently for a partner in  non-threatening activities!

There were quite a few light bulb moments  in this session about limited content and maximising skills but the best one was when we started tapping on the table! (It works every time!) Firstly in pairs all they did, was one partner tapped out the number of taps to represent a number they had learned and the other partner had to really listen attentively and then identify the number and say the number in Swedish. Then the challenge was increased- tapping out two numbers practising the word for "plus" and asking the partner to say the sum but not the answer.Sometimes the answer to the sum was beyond the 1- 10 they knew so we  discussed how a written response as figures on whiteboards would work here. It also led to one group identifying that at this point some children would realise the power of the dictionary to find the new number that they didn't know and to attempt the pronunciation with prior phonic knowledge from 1-10! 

And there's more! A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about Revisiting numbers and physcial listening and responding. . This activity works so well here! We began to consider how this could be a PE activity , how we could make this a drama activity for example each number could be a different shape in a spooky Halloween wood or it could be table activity led by one of the children on each table......

What we  had explored by this time in the session was the skills of listening, speaking, reading , the use of the bilingual dictionary , links between sounds and letter combinations and ways to take 10 simple numbers out of the language curriculum silo and across the whole school curriculum! Limited content, maximising skill practise and hopefully engaging staff not only in delivery in their own classroom but also in discussion about the skills of learning a language

KS2 - KS3 strategic continuum or conumdrum?

So this is my first blog post about transition between KS2 and KS3 this year. I say "this year " because it's an area that over many years I along with other colleagues have tried to encourage networking between KS2 and KS3. Sometimes I made real strides forward and other times it seemed like all the good intentions and the good work just fizzled out!

On reflection there were and still are lots of reasons for this - time, funding, change of staff in either secondary or primary, insecurity about the future of and the direction of primary language learning  or the demands of KS3 and KS4. I am sure you may also be able to add another to the list . . .

I love the phrase "if you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat"! I think it is true - sometimes you just have to take the first step. 18 months ago, Warrington Teaching Schools Alliance and my network did just that. We applied for a DFE grant to support schools in the Northwest make progress in primary language learning and build bridges between KS2 and KS3. 12 months ago we focused our attentions mainly on KS2 and we are still out there helping primaries.We invited KS3 colleagues to engage too. A limited number were able to do so - time and pressure were  cited as the main reasons but did begin (again) to bring KS2 and KS3 colleagues together.

I knew I needed to have "buy in" from SLT in secondary as well as primary and there had to be common purpose.I knew therefore that we had to argue, show and  prove that learning a language from Y3 on-wards makes a difference both for the young learner, schools and also up at the top end too when it comes to performance. We are at the "showing and proving stage" now  I think. It isn't about "secondary ready"  but  about building from the bottom, bringing as many young language learners successfully along as we progress  and taking stock of what progress has been made and being willing to adapt.In my opinion we  lost too many young learners in the past, because at 11 we couldn't address what they really wanted to talk about and say.We needed to sgtart earlier and build confdence in language learning skills whether they  changed languages or stayed with the same language. How fantatsic  will it be when we can honestly say that offer and develop in as many learners as possible for their own futures, young adults  with the ability to learn languages and with an understanding of how to independently help themselves do this! 

Now we have five up, running and functioning open transition groups. "Open ...Groups" because there has to be the flexibility to bring in new members and to address the ever growing number of schools linking with individual high schools, rather than clusters. We are working with three high schools in Warrington and two high schools in Crewe and  Widnes. We are offering platform to allow teachers to build strategic solid  foundations supported by both SLT in KS3-4 and SLT and coordinators in KS2. The key link is school improvement .The discussions are based  upon the  current guidance- DFE POS and key indicators of progress in language learning skills (including CEFR) that we can measure using our assessment tools (L,S,R,W and grammar acquisition).Behind all of this is the power of the VLE which allows for immediate, virtual and effective dialogue and sharing.

In reality this means that each of the networks (which met or prepared last year  and are currently  part of the DFE MFL KS2- KS3 project ) have met  or are about to meet this half term.The teachers have now gone back to their schools to:

• Create and trial a listening activity (in  year groups in KS2 and also in Y7) which demonstrates either "understanding a range of familiar spoken phrases" or aspirationally for some but not for all "understanding the main points from a spoken passage". This will be evidenced, on the VLE and ready to share and discuss at their next meeting.
• Trial two shared learning tools: physical response game and a  (with language as limited as numbers or as challenging as tenses in Y7) .What we are beginning to try to do here is build a bank of familiar learning activities so should children change languages, the new language and not the expectations of the activity is the  challenge.
• Have a special events focus that all the children learning a language in the school can participate in. The first special events focus is Bonfire Night using the  bonfire poem - in primary classes and also in Y7 and to share the ways the language learners explore the text and what creative outcomes they come up with. The Crewe group has several schools learning German in KS2 and Y7 are being introduced to German so the schools are going to look at ways to explore Sankt Martinstag too  with some support and input at the next CPD provided by Leighton Academy.

Working with a range of schools is one of my great pleasures! What I can see happening already in this project is that the groups are beginning to create their own ways forward. They  are finding their own best ways to collect data - soft and hard data, to offer their own in house group or individualCPD (and this is both KS3 supporting KS2 and KS2 supporting KS3 colleagues), to share and use bespoke materials,which suit the  learning needs of their  pupils. 

Will it work? Well I hope so! That isn't really enough though is it. What I have seen so far this time is that SLT particularly in KS3-4 want to know, are asking questions, reading minutes and asking informally how the meeting went and how they can help move things forward strategically. Truthfully I needed this support many moons ago when I was a local authority consultant trying to  achieve this - so this time I think it will prove to bemore "positive building of a strategic continuums " and less  "strategic conumdrums"!

Up, running and rolling out second year of DFE project!

So it is the start of the second year of the WTSA/PLN (DFE funded) Language Learning for everyone. This year we look forward to working with collleagues from around the North West across KS2 and KS3 .Our main goals this year are:

•  consolidate the links we have made,
• develop the skills of the teachers now becoming trainers,
• support schools to continue to establish effective primary languages practice and
• develop links that are sustainable within transition groups (cross phase KS2 -KS3)    

Our "Teacher Led CPD" this year will be: 

• Led, organised and supported by Janet Lloyd and WTSA 
• Online training and support for the trainer
• Continue to face to face support
• Online teacher support created by JL and team of teachers
• Quality assured
• Continue to develop 10 local North West network coordinators
• Continue to develop effective and targeted CPD deliverers form our "Teacher Led" growing CPD team so that they can be  Language Up-skilling trainers ,Pedagogy in primary classroom trainers, Subject coordinator support mentors,

·         

Established sequence of CPD events

We will continue to offer  

• Termly LNMs (local network meetings).Held in first half term
•  Termly language up-skilling –  beginners and intermediate(French, Spanish and this year German).Held in second half term
•  Termly invited national speaker for specific CPD – across phase .Watch out this  Autumn term for Reading Skills (Vicky Cooke).
• Offer coordinators and SLT an "Ensuring Primary Progress" focus : this term Assessment (JL)
• Facebook reports of events to share with wider audience
• Online resources accessible from Primary Languages Network website- all delegates receive username and password (resources from previous sessions available still- plus CPD notes and lesson guidance).

German for Primary is a focus this year

• · SOW and CPD are in development,ready for Spring 2016 CPD
•  Small network meetings – each half term (since April 2014 ) for teachers delivering primary German, led by local practitioner and native speaker.

·        

Transition – KS2 to KS3 will continue to be  a key focus this year

Last year we established and will contine to develop the following: 

•  JoBeeG73 blog reports: secondary MFL teacher working also as a  primary language teacher .Blog established and shared from September 2014: to upskill secondary teacher and allow observation time of good primary practice, to reflect and feedback over two year project her observations to a wider audience
• KS2 into KS3  mentor trained during 2014-15 :secondary MFL teacher working also as a  primary language teacher.To work with own cluster in 2015-2016 and to offer support to other KS3 colleagues  in 2015-2016
• Pedagogy CPD (KS2 and KS3 language teachng colleagues) – shared events continuing- 2014-15 :ICT/Literacy and Phonics/ Annual Conference/LNM invites and now in to 2015-2016: Reading Skills/Bespoke CPD /LNM invites/Writing and Grammar (Spring term 2016
• Active transition groups: working alongisde Janet Lloyd to develop effective dialogue and to look at ways to develop shared learning tools and how to transfer and share useful soft and hard data
• Blog reports  on steps toward transition 
• Outcomes this year from the transition group work will be; 

1. KS3 CPD afternoon to be held in Spring term 2016– each of participating high schools to be offered opportunity to deliver on one key area of their own group’s work
2.  Shared portfolio to be established of good practice to be shared with wider audience

Teachers becoming trainers

“A huge thank you to all those who came out in the rain tonight for the Autumn St. Helen’s Local Network Meeting. Was lovely to see you all and share resources and ideas and thanks to Carmelina, was great working with you!”

One of our associate teachers posted the quote above on our JLN Facebook page just after her shared leadership of a local network meeting in St Helens. It caught my eye because I know exactly how thrilled she is- her fourth network meeting and she shared the load with Carmelina, one of our colleagues in St Helens. Together  they have worked through and planned their CPD session on reading and writing using training notes, advice  and resources from myself. The very important fact is that together they are developing their training skills! It is so important to celebrate and congratulate the new young teachers who are willing to step up to the plate and learn how to become a trainer of peers. This is the first of 10 local network meetings, nearly all of them except for one led by myself, will be led by my wonderful colleagues just like Claire and Carmelina! 

My colleagues have come such a long way! It is a delight to see! Take a look at the photo below and let's wind back one year......

September 2014

It's a photo from of our associate language teachers in 2014 at our annual CPD day. Emilie is sharing her presentation from the annual conference in July 2014, where she had shared her work in the classroom and simple activities using ICT with our network members.At our training day in September 2014 Emilie (ICT), Joanne (Drama, games and song) and Claire (role of the subject coordinator) all shared activities and experience with the associate group. I am not sure at this point that the group realised how bit by bit over the course of the next couple of years so many of them would be asked to step away from being just the primary languages classroom teacher to becoming a trainer. And what a difference a year makes! Here is Emilie at the annual conference July 2015, sharing activities, giving key information and setting up opportunities for teachers in the audience to explore for themselves....! (For those who might recognise themselves in thie photo above and below -I hope that some of you may also be working as trainers too in the near future! Christine B looking forward to running Warrington ALL hub from November with you too!)  

Ana, Emilie and Barbara have all up-skilled colleagues in their first languages - Spanish, French and German. Emilie has shared her IT knowledge and growing IT in primary language teaching skills.Joanne has engaged with me in training ITTs and working with our network colleagues to develop their drama and creative skills in the classroom.

Catherine and Claire have supported subject coordinators and schools to develop realistic achievable programmes of learning. Emilie and Joanne have become trainers in unfamiliar staff rooms at staff INSET - always to great effect and praise! And in the background other associates are learning the ropes. attending staff CPD with me in their associate schools- watch this space! 

The DFE project "Language Learning for Everyone" asked us to develop "Teacher Led CPD" in the local areas here in the North West.This funded programme has allowed me to support local teachers to develop their trainer skills and coordinate and  deliver the CPD at local network meetings. This half term, nine colleagues are leading local sessions. What is amazing are the skills that I think we almost lost when previous funding and support disappeared,  but that we  are being able to find again and further develop thanks to the DFE funding.In the group there are three former primary language leading teachers, two ASTs, and high school primary language link teachers and coordinators. Each one is pivotal in the momentum and dynamics of this project. Each one is now making contacts and sharing with others.  

Alongside the local network meetings, we have established transition groups and in these groups are hidden gems! Last year I had the pleasure of supporting a local colleague as she developed her own knowledge of primary by both teaching once a week in  a primary school and also going out to observe and discuss with colleagues primary language teaching and learning. I am thoroughly enjoying bringing teachers together to share their knowledge and grow in their own confidence that they can support each other. I am certain that amongst them there is another dynamic group of trainers in the making - and maybe not all of them are linguists but they share the common determination to try to make language learning work for everyone!

Our teacher led CPD is  allowing teachers  to become local  trainers, supported by some or all of the  steps listed below:

• having the opportunity to attend CPD delivered by national trainers - last year we had the wonderful opportunity to work with Joe Dale,Julie Prince and Elaine Minnett
• observing an experienced trainer deliver in school staff INSET
• working alonside an experienced trainer or consultant at planning meetings with a school subject coordinator or coordinators
• delivering language upskilling or pedagogy alongside an experienced trainer
• feeling yoour opinion is valued
• having the opportunity to plan parts of CPD 
• feeling able to ask questions and to make mistakes
• reflecting on own delivery and practice 
• becoming a facilitator
• reflecting on how much colleague have learned and taken away from a CPD session 
• identifying strengths and building on these
• stepping out of  personal comfort zones and applying teaching skills appropriately to presenting , training or working with adults