By Séverine Capjon, author and French teacher
‘Wait, what? The French GCSE specification is changing again?!’ This is the comment I made when a colleague informed me that the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual were working on a new French GCSE. I find change in education a little daunting but I was relieved to read…
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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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After reading the advance information for the 2022 June exam and the changes for 2022 published on the AQA website it appears that the main difference is to the writing exam format (Paper 4). In addition, there will be no requirement for vocabulary outside of the specification. The speaking, reading and listening exams remain the […]
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Sadie Thompson reflects on how to sensitively and respectfully make sure that we are including those students who are coming to terms with what their gender identity might be in the context of the #MFL classroom.
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We all know that learning a language requires perseverance over time, so helping students to develop this is key to their success. My years in teaching have been very varied. I’ve taught languages in primary and secondary schools and taught English and PE as well. Completing the gold Duke of Edinburgh award and returning […]
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As a white, straight woman teaching in an outstanding school in an area with low levels of deprivation compared to the national average, it is more than apparent to me that I ought to be more than just aware of my ‘privilege’. Not only this, one of the main reasons I fell in love with […]
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Following months of screen gazing, limited interaction and working in isolation, our students are ready to come to life and to feel the buzz that our lively and dynamic MFL methodology brings. A foreign languages lesson is a social event where interaction and communication are essential, just what our young people need, having been starved […]
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In 2019, the British Academy, the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering produced a shared statement calling on the UK Government to adopt a national strategy for languages. They were concerned that the “UK’s poor language capacity has resulted in the loss of economic, social, cultural, and research […]
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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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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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