North West

The AS Level Oral Revision Event is designed to provide oral skills practice in French, German and Spanish to students from local schools and colleges that are due to sit their AS level exams.

The event can accommodate up to 200 students and is designed to enhance their curriculum through providing access to alternative learning environments and resources with a view to raise aspirations and encourage the continuation of language study at a higher level.

For more information, please contact Deborah Lumb at: d.lumb@salford.ac.uk

UCLAN, Preston is hosting several Skills Development Days for years 10 & 11 to raise awareness and development of Language skills. There will be hands-on activities such as PC usage and calligraphy. This event is also supported and promoted by Aimhigher throughout Lancashire.

For more information, please contact Mark Orme: mporme@uclan.ac.uk
 

This event is designed to enthuse Key Stage 4 learners in Languages and expose them to languages other than those they are currently learning.

The event is aimed at Year 10s who attend schools and colleges within easy travel distance to the University. Priority will be given to those schools with a low uptake in Languages at Key Stage 4.
 

For more details, please contact Charles Pybus at the University of Manchester: charles.pybus@manchester.ac.uk

The Starlight Show is a multicultural event in which the school pupils will be displaying their talents through singing, dancing, music recitals, juggling etc. It is a "ladies only" event and all supplementary schools are invited.

Dr. Sharon Handley, the director of Routes into Languages North West, will introduce the event and the Lord Mayor of Manchester will be giving an Opening Speech.

The boys will also be taking part indirectly by entering the poetry and art competitions run by the respective departments of the school. The title of their work is "Hope for Haiti" and they will be on display at the event. The Lord Mayor will be judging this work on the night and there is a prize of £10.00 for each winner at KS3 ,KS4 and KS5.

There will also be clothes, jewellery, henna and food stalls, including Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Routes into Languages will also be offering the chance for parents to win £20 Marks and Spencers voucher, as part of a Prize Draw. All you will have to do is fill in a short questionnaire and submit it to us at the event.

The last hour will be for the ladies /girls to party with a female DJ playing.

This event is being run as a Charity event and all proceeds will go to helping the earthquake sufferers in Haiti. The tickets for the Starlight Show cost £4.00 (available from Parrs Wood High School - 0161 445 5974).

For more information, please contact Sadeqa Iqbal: sli@parrswood.manchester.sch.uk

Dear Teachers of Arabic, Mandarin, Italian and Urdu,

Cornerhouse, Manchester will organise two INSET days for teachers of Arabic,
Mandarin, Italian and Urdu wanting to learn about using film to teach
languages. Learning a language through film can be a fun, stimulating and
engaging experience for your students. This INSET aims to provide teachers
with the necessary tools, resources and knowledge to read, explore and
interpret film, as well as offering practical suggestions for language
activities and exercises to be applied in the classroom.

Carmen Herrero will provide a brief overview on why teachers should use film
and the positive impact it has on language learning. Practical breakout
sessions will enable teachers to analyse a scene from a film in their
specialist language. With the aid of a "how to read a film" guide, teachers
will also explore different filmic approaches, learn about models for using
film in the language classroom, in addition to creating workable activities
to be used to further enhance the learning of languages.

This is the first time we are offering INSET for teachers of Community and
Lesser Taught Languages and it would be fantastic if we could get teachers
from your school involved. We are currently seeking expressions of interest
from teachers who teach one of the four languages (mentioned above), because
we plan to host the INSETS on the dates (below):

SAT 27 FEB 2010*, 11:00-14:00

MON 01 MAR 2010*, 17:00-20:00 (twilight session)

[*These are provisional dates and are subject to change, depending on the
demand for this event]

If you or someone from your school is interested in attending one of the
above INSETS, please secure your place by emailing myself on
info@debbiechan.co.uk. Remember to state your name, address, telephone
number, language specialism and which date you can attend.

To receive regular email bulletins about Projector - Cornerhouse's formal
education programme for teachers and students aged 14-19yrs, please email
your name, email address and subject area to mailto:database@cornerhouse.org

For more information about Projector Community Languages please do not
hesitate to contact me directly.

Many thanks,
Debbie
 

Manchester Metropolitan University is hosting a Celebration for Chinese New Year in Geoffrey Manton Atrium Foyer, All Saints Campus, and will take place from 12-2 p.m. on 25th February 2010.

This event is designed to raise awareness of Chinese culture and Language.

Participants will be able to see Chinese Lion-Dancing, try out Chinese calligraphy and paper-folding, and learn some basic greetings in Chinese!

All interested staff and students welcome! 

The first ever Bangladeshi film festival is going to take place in Manchester, UK on the 20th and 21st of February 2010. Manchester University Bangladesh Student Society (BSS) is going to organise the film festival with the cooperation of Routes into Languages North West, the University of Manchester Students Union (UMSU) and Channel-i Bangladesh.

Films to be screened in the festival include the famous productions of renowned Bangladeshi film makers Chashi Nazrul Islam, Humaun Ahmed, Touquir Ahmed and Shahidul Islam Khokon. The official versions of these Bengali films to be shown contain English subtitles for the benefit of international audiences and new generation non-residents Bangladeshis (NRBs) living in
the UK.

BSS, one of the largest associations of Bangladeshi Students in the UK, is also going to observe the Bangla Language Martyr’s Day and UNESCO-adopted International Mother Language Day in parallel to the film festival. A discussion event on this occasion will be organised at the University on the 21st of February 2010 at 3 p.m before the film screenings. The aim of the programme is to observe International Mother Language Day and to create awareness about it. The target audiences are students, faculty members, ex-students as well as the multilingual community living in Manchester. Mr. Asad Alam Siam, Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner in Manchester, and Ms. Jocelyn Wyburd, Executive Director of the Manchester University Language Centre, will be present as speakers in the discussion programme.

International Mother Tongue Day is proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999, and has been observed yearly since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It originated as the International recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952.
 

For more information, please contact the Bangladesh Students' Society: bss_man@umsu.manchester.ac.uk

The Community and Lesser Taught Languages (COLT) project is running Training Course for Urdu Teachers, in Spring 2010.
These courses include:
• A training day (workshop 1) at the Institute of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University on 20th February
• An optional visit to a mainstream school to observe MFL teaching in the mainstream sector
• A second training day (workshop 2) at the Institute of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University on 20th March
• An observation visit by our Teacher Trainers to course participants in their own schools after the second training day

Our Urdu tutors are Saeed Ahmed Varachhia and Shahid Hussain. Please note our Urdu Teacher Trainers speak Gujarati and Hindi as well as Urdu.

This is a free course, which will support teachers of these languages and provide additional practical training and guidance in teaching methodology and thus contribute to their Continuing Professional Development. Please note that this course does not constitute a PGCE; however, course participants will be awarded a certificate of attendance, if they complete all four elements of the course. Participants can then register for an MMU award or qualification and the certificate will provide exemption from part of certain courses. This is accreditation of prior learning (APL) and can take place for up to 5 years after the completion of the course. If you register for an award of the university, this course plus an assessment item can give you 20 points of accreditation. Further information about this will be given to course participants in Workshop 1.

We are still accepting applications for this course. The deadline is 17th February! Please click here to apply.

If any teachers from your school wish to take part in this free training, please complete the attached form and return it to us. Please note that we can accept a maximum of four teachers per school. If you would like to book more than four places please contact us to enquire about additional places.

Once we receive your enrolment form, we will email you to confirm your places on the course. A full programme for the course will be sent, along with directions for the first training day, nearer the time.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this course: routes@mmu.ac.uk

Dear Colleague,
I am writing to inform you about the Community and Lesser Taught Languages (COLT) project’s Training Course for Arabic Teachers, in Spring 2010.
These courses include:
• A training day (workshop 1) at the Institute of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University
• An optional visit to a mainstream school to observe MFL teaching in the mainstream sector
• A second training day (workshop 2) at the Institute of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University
• An observation visit by our Teacher Trainers to course participants in their own schools after the second training day
 

Our Arabic tutors are Yosra Agil and Majda Al-Liabi.

This is a free course, which will support teachers of these languages and provide additional practical training and guidance in teaching methodology and thus contribute to their Continuing Professional Development. Please note that this course does not constitute a PGCE; however, course participants will be awarded a certificate of attendance, if they complete all four elements of the course. Participants can then register for an MMU award or qualification and the certificate will provide exemption from part of certain courses. This is accreditation of prior learning (APL) and can take place for up to 5 years after the completion of the course. If you register for an award of the university, this course plus an assessment item can give you 20 points of accreditation. Further information about this will be given to course participants in Workshop 1.

If any teachers from your school wish to take part in this free training and are available on the dates of the two workshops outlined above, please complete the attached form and return it to us by Friday 15th January 2010 to secure your places. Please note that we can accept a maximum of four teachers per school. If you would like to book more than four places please contact us to enquire about additional places.

Once we receive your enrolment form, we will write to you to confirm your places on the course. A full programme for the course will be sent, along with directions for the first training day, nearer the time.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this course: routes@mmu.ac.uk

UCLAN, Preston is hosting several Skills Development Days for years 10 & 11 to raise awareness and development of Language skills. There will be hands-on activities such as PC usage and calligraphy. This event is also supported and promoted by Aimhigher throughout Lancashire.

For more information, please contact Mark Orme: mporme@uclan.ac.uk