Unlocking Cultural Capital

First coined by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ‘cultural capital’ became a bit of an an educational buzz word – at least for those of us working in England – when it first appeared in Ofsted’s 2019 Inspection Framework. Here, it was outlined in rather broad brush strokes as:Continue reading “Unlocking Cultural Capital”

Francophone Art Week

When I first started working as my school’s specialist languages teacher, with responsibility for teaching across all eight Key Stage Two classes, one of my main aims was to take French from being a “stand-alone” subject to one which was much more cross-curricular. Weaving language-learning into the curriculum alongside other subjects felt important in termsContinue reading “Francophone Art Week”

Low and No-Prep Language Lesson Activities

I love sending time planning and preparing creative and engaging activities and resources to use in my languages classroom, but sometimes we all need a go-to activity, which we know will give us the learning outcome we need with a minimal amount of preparation. All of the activities below work well as starters, as wellContinue reading “Low and No-Prep Language Lesson Activities”

The International School Award

The British Council’s International School Award recognises and celebrates schools that have shown a commitment to embedding international awareness and understanding within their curriculum offer. I first heard about the International School Award several years ago and applying for it had always been on my ‘to-do’ list but it wasn’t until 2019, following a fantasticContinue reading “The International School Award”

A “Deep Dive” into Primary Languages

In October 2021, the first day back after our half term holiday, we got “the call. ” It wasn’t a shock – like many schools, our inspection was well overdue – but, of course, the nerves started jangling anyway. Languages, in our case French, had already been selected by SLT as a potential Deep DiveContinue reading “A “Deep Dive” into Primary Languages”

European Day of Languages

European Day of Languages, celebrated every 26th September since 2001, was originally created by the Council of Europe to celebrate the diversity of languages and cultures within the Council’s forty-seven member states, and promote intercultural understanding. At my multilingual, multicultural inner-city primary school, it is a chance to celebrate the many languages spoken by theContinue reading “European Day of Languages”

Designing an Engaging Scheme of Work for KS2

In the first few years of my career as a primary school teacher, and in spite of having a degree in French and Hispanic studies, I didn’t teach a great many language lessons of my own devising. Between specialist teachers and bought-in schemes of work, I never really had to plan my own lessons. SoContinue reading “Designing an Engaging Scheme of Work for KS2”