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Awarding Grades Summer 2021

February 12, 2021February 12, 2021Mariu Hurriaga

We will soon know Ofqual final decisions about awarding grades for GCSE and A Level students this summer. Their consultation closed just over a week ago and has received a record number of responses, not only from educators but also from the young people whose grades are at stake. In our profession we are all […]

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The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators

November 12, 2020February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team 1 Comment
Anthea-Bell-Translation-Prize-OUP-blog

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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Why learn a language? : My story by Leyla Vladar

January 7, 2020February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team 2 Comments
How language-learning has changed my life: Luke Baxter

Meet Leyla the second language lover in our series introducing you to inspirational individuals with real-life tales of language-learning journeys that have changed their lives for the better. We hope these stories will help inspire your students to opt for a modern language (or two!)

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Top 4 take-aways from the 2019 MFL GCSE exams

September 19, 2019February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team
MFL GCSE exam insight

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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What are your thoughts on this year’s GCSE exams?

July 2, 2019February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team 1 Comment
9-1 exams

We asked Rebecca Nobes, Head of Spanish and #MFLchat on twitter to share her reflections on this year’s AQA GCSE Spanish exams. We’d love to hear your thoughts too, so please share your thoughts in the comments below. The general consensus The general consensus among the MFL teaching community seems to be that this year’s […]

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Constructive approaches to languages assessment for KS3 and KS4

January 15, 2018February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team 1 Comment

Our January blog post welcomes back Yvonne Kennedy, MFL consultant and Allez author… The phenomenon of the ‘backwash effect’ whereby the format and foci of GCSE assessment has a direct influence (positive or negative depending on your point of view) on teaching practice at Key Stage 3 will be familiar to many language teachers. Some, […]

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What advice would you give to new colleagues?

September 28, 2017February 9, 2021Oxford Languages Team

This week, we’re welcoming back Liz Black with her reflections on starting out as a teacher. What advice would you give to new colleagues? I’m sure like me you have found the last few blog posts by Yvonne Kennedy and David Shanks extremely helpful. We can learn so much from other language consultants and teachers, […]

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The Alternative 6 Back-to-School MFL Ideas

September 14, 2017November 1, 2017Oxford Languages Team

This month, we’re welcoming David Shanks back with his 3rd blog post… And so, school is no longer “out for summer” and another lengthy wait to hear Alice Cooper’s classic on the radio begins. We are learning new student names, dusting off the teaching cobwebs and are most proud of our shiny new stationery and […]

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Let’s Revive MFL by Making the Most of Networks – Part 1

June 19, 2017June 19, 2017Oxford Languages Team

This week we’re delighted to welcome David Shanks, MFL consultant and lead practitioner at the Harris Federation, as our guest blogger – look out for part two next week… “It’s a great networking opportunity.”  “I’m off to network over dinner.”  “Sorry, I can’t tonight, I need to show face and network at an event.” When […]

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Exploring the interconnectivity of skills at Key Stage 3

May 24, 2017November 13, 2017Oxford Languages Team

Last summer, I was asked to take part in a project on assessment at Key Stage 3 to consider what the Programme of Study for languages might mean for the design of new assessments in the classroom.  Reviewing this document, I was reminded of the emphasis on the interconnectivity of the four skills of speaking, […]

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