Sunday, September 23, 2012

Teaching News

Teaching News

10 Resources for the European Day of Languages

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 02:00 AM PDT

The European Day of Languages takes place on 26th September. It aims to celebrate more than 6000 languages that are spoken in the world, as well as the different cultures of those who speak them all. Here are 10 great resources to help schools get involved too:

1) The official site has lots of information and suggestions for how to get involved. These include 10 ways to celebrate, 10 games and challenges, and 10 downloads.

2) Teaching Ideas has a large MFL section with general ideas, as well as resources for French, German, Spanish, Greek and Lithuanian.

3) Languages Online has lots of interactive activities, covering a number of languages. A great resource!

4) The BBC’s Primary Languages site is a great source of videos, audio clips, songs and games to help children to learn French, Spanish or Mandarin. A site for secondary school pupils is also available.

5) Primary Resources also has a huge collection of resources for Modern Foreign Languages.

6) There are lots of languages videos on Youtube. The FrenchPod101 channel is a great example of some of the quality content that is available for free. Could your pupils make their own languages videos to help others learn some new vocabulary?

Click here to view the embedded video.

7) Newbury Park Primary School have lots of free online video clips showing children speaking a wide variety of languages. This would be a great resource to show on interactive whiteboards, or for children to use independently.

8 ) The MFL Sunderland site is a FANTASTIC resource for languages teachers. It has an enormous collection of ideas, lesson plans, resources and links which will keep you busy for hours!

9) The BBC’s Class Clips site also has lots of wonderful videos about different countries, languages and cultures.

10) The Teachers.TV videos are a really good resource for teachers who are looking for some ideas to help them teach languages. The Primary and Secondary videos are all available at SchoolsWorld.

Will you be getting involved in the European Day of Languages?

Teaching News and Events (22/9/12)

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:

National, regional and local authority figures for Key Stage 2 tests in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school have been published. The official results can be found here, along with coverage from a variety of online news sources:
- The proportion of 11-year-olds in England reaching the expected level in reading and maths has gone up, official figures show (BBC).
- More primary school pupils than ever have reached national curriculum standards for English and mathematics in England (The Guardian).
- More than 135,000 pupils left primary school this summer with a poor grasp of the three-Rs, despite a sharp improvement in national results (The Telegraph).
- Seven per cent of 11-year-old boys will be starting secondary education with ability levels no better than those expected of the average infant (The Telegraph).
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw says a flagship policy to target extra funding at poor pupils in England is having little impact on many schools.
Bright schoolchildren are being failed by the "curse" of mixed-ability classes because teachers are tailoring lessons towards average and low-skilled pupils, according to the head of Ofsted.
A focus on core science and technology skills at school could improve future employment prospects, says Nick Martindale.

scienceandtechnology2

The former Conservative education secretary who brought in GCSEs claimed the exams sat in English schools today have become “watered down… and less rigorous”.
Local authorities, teaching unions and schools have begun a legal challenge against Ofqual’s refusal to re-grade GCSE English papers in England.
GCSE grade boundaries in some science exams were changed part-way through the year, exam board figures show.
The GCSE exam in England is to be replaced by a qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate – which will be awarded for the first time in 2017. Read the announcement by Michael Gove here.
The school exams revolution announced this week will lead to more "wrong grades" and fluke results, according to both the academic whose research is being used to justify the changes and a government education adviser.
Ofsted has produced three reports that will help schools improve to be at least 'good' and ensure that all pupils achieve to the best of their ability.
The government has published a 10-point plan for securing a lasting legacy from the Olympic Games.

Next week's Teaching Events include:

22nd September – World Car Free Day
25th September – International Rabbit Day
26th September – European Day of Languages
28th September – The Dahlicious Dress Up Day