Thanks to The SSAT team for organising the national languages conference 2012 which took place in
Although I had to miss some of it through setting up and
clearing up after my own session, and it was just so cruel that I had to miss parallel sessions (!), I was able to really enjoy what I did
experience, and I have come away brimming with thoughts and practical
ideas, adn with names of potential ALL London speakers whom I had not heard previously.
Much as I love the online communities (especially the yahoomflresources group, Linguanet and various Twitter lists) through which I
benefit enormously from ‘continuous (literally! – I mean, every minute!!!)
professional development’, and much as I
love being part of ‘Show and Tell / Teachmeet’ sessions where people can
present ideas in short bursts, I personally still appreciate and benefit from
the so-called ‘traditional conferences’ where people are given time to present
their practice ‘as a whole’ (often including exploring rationale / underpinning
principles as well as practical outcomes) and listeners can concentrate,
reflect thoughtfully, quietly and unobtrusively as they go along, following up
with questions and discussion either at the end of the talk or over the coffee
and lunch breaks.
I am not going to attempt to reproduce in full what people
said, but while it is fresh in my mind, here are a few summaries and personal thoughts and ‘points for
action’ which I have taken away from the conference.
Following Joe Dale's advice to copy Isabelle Jones and Amanda Salt (stars in the blogosphere firmament!) I will split the notes into separate pages. Click the hyperlinks to get to the pages!
Welcome and
introduction – Bernadette Young, Headteacher, Royds School
Specialist Language
College
Keynote 1: New
wheels? Innovations in language; progress in language learning. Steven Fawkes.
‘Ofsted outstanding
in MFL 2012. Tim Crapper, Head of
French & Richard O’Driscoll, Head of Spanish, Aylesbury Grammar School
The exciting
challenge of innovating language curriculum – Jane Breen, AST
King Edward VI School
(Boys’ Grammar, Chelmsford
Making the most of
digital media: Helen Myers -The Ashcombe School
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