By Rebecca Nobes The examiners’ reports are a really useful way to pick up on areas to develop in the coming year. Here are my main takeaways from this year’s reports: Paper 1: listening, reading and writing Summary task This was by far the biggest area of weakness. The main things for students to note […]
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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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Following on from our blog post on the AQA GCSE examiner reports, we’ve taken a detailed look at the AQA A Level examiner reports for French, Spanish and German – here’s what we found out. Enthusiasm pays off… For the IRP (Individual Research Project) or photo activity, students who had chosen a topic they were […]
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This month we’re welcoming Tony Weston and José Antonio García Sánchez, Languages leads and authors of ¡Claro! KS3 Spanish . We love to hear what you would add to this list? Mi clase es tu clase Whether your languages department has a very clearly defined area in your school building, or if you are lucky enough to teach […]
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This month we’re delighted to be welcoming back David Shanks with his second post about preparing for GCSE 9-1. Have an effective and organised general approach Measuring what works in education is a notoriously tricky business with so many variables acting upon the learning process. However, advances in the world of cognitive science and educational […]
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With exams looming on the horizon, David Shanks is back to share his top 4 exam preparation tips for teachers… With just six short weeks remaining until the speaking examination window opens, we are firmly in the ‘home straight’ as we head towards the first sittings of the long-anticipated “more challenging” 9-1 MFL GCSE exams […]
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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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This week we have joint guest bloggers and OUP authors Margaret Bond and Lorenzo Moya-Morallón. With a wealth of teaching experience between them, they’re providing some tips for those new to teaching literature at A Level… Select your text carefully. Avoid popular novels just because they are popular, choose ones that you’ve enjoyed yourself. Also don’t […]
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This month, we’re welcoming David Shanks back with his 4th blog post… In a recent conversation, a colleague pointed out that her journey in teaching had real parallels with her previous experience of the acting world. The similarities are indeed quite striking: the working in front of an “audience”, the improvisation, the regular re-runs, the tweaking […]
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