Audrey McKie

A bit of a late reply as I am a new member...

A few pupils at my school have got diagnosed ADHD and are on medication (I can think of two pupils who are on two different medication, but I don't know their names, sorry). One of the two lads started at my school while he had not been diagnosed and he was totally bonkers. e is now, still quite mad to be frank but it is possible to have a full lesson with him in the classroom.

I understand your concern, especialy with tales from the US whereby parents have had their kids on Ritalin when the children weren't suffering from the condition but just healthy active kids. However, I think that for some of them who genuinely suffer, there may be a solution in administering drugs, when all else fails.

A.B.

I'm afraid this seems to be part of a conspiracy to stop the proliferation of langages amongst the young and the more experienced. What this is doing is only contributing to the feeling of supremacy that a lot of Britons already experience. I mean by that that although English ia (badly) spoken nearly everywhere, it doesn't replace the sense of achievement of being able to go somewhere and make yourself understood by the locals. I personally find it crippling to be abroad and not be able to comunicate in the language. Learning a language is humbling yet enriching but mostly challenging. It feels like the ignorant mob is winning a battle against culture, against understanding one's neighbour.

I would like some views about this growing problem for us MFL teachers, the fact that MFL are going optional in more and more schools tyhese days. I know that the decision was made 3 years ago, however, it is only now that we are starting to see the full extent of the decision.

I am very concerned at various level. The teacher in me is concerned about the fact that children are not going to be given the opportunity to have some sort of eexperience of a foreign culture and I think this is a problem very specific to Britain. I understand that Lnaguages for all wasn't the ideal solution either but hey do it in other countries (like France) and it doesn't seem to be such a problem there. The career woman in me thinks that this measure is catastrophic for job and career prospects. Many of us who have left or will leave their jobs will not be replaced and people like me who are trying to relocate, following my fiance's move are going to find themselves in very tricky situations. I hope that it doesnt get as bad as the education system in Germany whereby techers have to 'swao' jobs when they want to move schools.

has your school already gone 100% optional? wht are the consequences of such a decision? how have numbers been affected?

I am a 26 year-old teacher of Languages in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. I am originally from France, Brittany to be precise. I have lived in Britain for nearly 4 1/2 years. In that time I have worked my way north, starting in Bristol, stopping in Wolverhampton and now on the Wirral, but still teaching in Shropshire!

I have a range of interests including languages - I speak French and English fluently, have a fair level in German and I am taking a GCSE in Spanish - education in general, music (all sorts), cinema and mostly reading. I try to read at least one book per half-term and it is an achievement if you are in full time teaching!!!