Dorset Regional Support Group

Coordinator: Ruth Parker, Pupil and School Improvement, Primary Strategy Team, Ground Floor, Hammick House, Bridport Road, Poundbury, Dorchester DT1 3SD
Tel: 01305 254022 Fax: 01305 757106
Email: R.E.Parker@dorsetcc.gov.uk

Date: 17/09/2007
Title: Using the Primary Languages Training Zone
Venue: The Sir John Colfox School, Bridport
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Speaker: Kati Szeless

We were delighted to welcome Kati Szeless, Language Teaching Adviser, from CILT to lead a session on using the Primary Languages Training Zone. Despite it being early in the school year, 20 teachers attended and a number of these were teachers who are about to begin teaching a language for the first time.

Kati gave us an excellent overview of the site and how to navigate around it to ensure that we can make the best use of it. We were able to try out some of the suggested activities in the CPD materials and discussed how we might extend the learning in our own classrooms. Finally, Kati led us in singing a version of 'Mein Hut, er hat drei Ecken' in Japanese using the transcripts available on the zone, which was highly amusing.

Date: 05/11/2007
Title: Using Songs and Raps
Venue: Highcliffe School, Highcliffe
Time: 4:00 - 6:00pm
Speaker: Carole Nicholl

Carole Nicoll led us through a range of lively songs and raps, in French, German and Spanish. All of the songs had actions to go alongside them and Carole demonstrated effectively how actions and songs are a key strategy to help pupils learn a language. Thanks to Carole for her infectious enthusiasm.

Date: 06/02/2008
Title: Make it active!
Venue: Brownsword Hall, Poundbury, Dorchester.
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Speaker: Ruth Parker

Our third RSG of the year had a record attendance of 45 participants. The session was entitled ‘Make it Active’ and the session itself was certainly ‘hands on.’ Firstly we tried out two action rhymes from the ‘Take 10 en Français’ resource produced by Devon Curriculum Services. This resource has proved to be highly popular with Dorset schools. Then, we unrolled two parachutes to participate in some parachute games inspired by the pack produced by Hove Park School. Finally, we tried out two of the dances from ‘French Dance for the Classroom’ produced by TLP. These two dances provided much hilarity and teachers have since complained how ‘Jean Petit qui danse’ just sticks in your head for days!

Date: 23/04/2008
Title: Go International
Venue: Burraton House, Poundbury
Time: 4pm - 6pm
Speaker: Chris Reed, Pippa Gerrett

Chris Reed, AST, from Bournemouth School for Boys spoke firstly about the International Events that the Language College organises for their partner schools. We were all impressed by the wealth of activities and the range of languages that are offered.

Pippa Gerrett from Sturminster Marshall First School then talked about the French Week that had recently taken place. The range of cross-curricular ideas impressed us all, however teachers also commented that a similar event would be easy to organise in their own schools.

Date: 07/05/2008
Title: Cross-curricular links
Venue: Dorchester, venue TBC
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Speaker: Lucy Adamson, CILT

Lucy Adamson kindly agreed to come to Dorset to present a session on embedding language activities across the curriculum. She showed us a great range of activities and strategies for incorporating languages in all the different curriculum areas. Colleagues from Primary, First and Middle schools commented that they found this session very useful, as they move towards a more 'creative curriculum.'

NACELL Regional Support Groups are funded by the DCSFand co-ordinated by CILT, the National Centre for Languages in support of the National Languages Strategy.