By Mariela Affum, author and German teacher
I have over 18 years’ of teaching and examining experience and have seen several “new” specifications come and go. As teachers, we must constantly adapt to these changes and make sure that we provide the best possible preparation for our students, as their grades depend on our understanding of the exam and assessment criteria.
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Last week we saw the final criteria for the MFL speaking endorsement published by Ofqual ( link here ). For our colleagues in English this is not a new thing, but for us in MFL it is a novelty and as such it has raised a certain amount of uncertainty and concern. How can we decide fairly […]
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The Translation Exchange at the Queen’s College, Oxford, launched a brand-new competition for schools in September 2020. The competition is inspired by the work of the translator Anthea Bell OBE (1936–2018), one of the finest and most influential literary translators of the 20th and 21st centuries. The competition takes place in March 2021, but we […]
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This return to school has been like no other. As usual, we have had to face confirmation of Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve after a long summer break; but this time, with the addition of those months in lockdown. And, although happy to be back in school, we have found ourselves having to work extra hard not […]
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The Covid-19 crisis has thrown up some very real obstacles for many students in terms of access to the curriculum. While some fortunate students may have been working fairly constantly online, others may have had patchy internet access, no personal device and the odd pdf here or there. The crisis has catapulted access and equity […]
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Having read the examiners’ reports on GCSE Spanish, French and German, here are my key takeaways in terms of what to work on this year: Listening Revise basic vocabulary It was disappointing to see that students seemed to have forgotten basic vocabulary; this was seen at both tiers. For example, students did not know the […]
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This month we welcome Rebecca Nobes, Head of Spanish to the Teaching Languages Today Blog with her reflections on the Ofsted Framework… Having read the new Ofsted Framework, all in all I am feeling positive. I’m really encouraged by the way in which it outlines all the things that they will not be expecting early […]
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