Denise Burgess

I just looked at this but its wordy and too complicated for my brain. Is there something in simplified format or pictorial????

Denise

Does anyone know where I might obtain any of those beautiful Women's History / Suffrage posters?

The ones to which I am referring are like those done by Pre-Raphaelite artists.

I still contend that foreign languages are a special case. Our main problem in this subject area is motivation. The British are the worst performers in foreign languages in Europe, in spite of all the changes that have taken place in language teaching methodology over the last 50 years, in spite of the National Curriculum, in spite of the introduction of mixed ability teaching, in spite of the application of new technologies such as the language lab and the computer lab. Rather than getting better at foreign languages we are getting worse. As soon as the DfES announced that foreign languages would not be compulsory beyond Key Stage 3 in state schools in England (note: England, NOT Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), senior managers hastened to push foreign languages off the curriculum in order to bump up their performance tables figures - because GCSE results in foreign languages tend to be so poor. Now only 25% of kids in state schools in England are taking a GCSE in a foreign language. In one northern English city there is a school where the figure is just 18%.

I have taught in schools in London and also in rural Devon. Working class city kids have almost no interest in foreign languages. Many of them can barely communicate in English - which is not a good starting point. Rural kids are difficult to motivate. As one poorly performing child (son of a Devon farmer) said to me when I reprimanded him for his dreadful exam performance: "I don't need German to talk to a cow."

On the Continent motivation is less of a problem. In many countries you can't get a job if you don't speak English. In addition, English language pop culture and English language films capture the imagination of young people and encourage them to learn English. Go to any popular holiday resort on the Continent and you are surrounded by signs in English. I don't see much French or German on signs in the UK - maybe "Tenez la gauche" or "Links fahren" on the M20 coming out of Dover. Our local council began to translate some of its signs into French and German. One of them was sign in a multi-storey car park warning drivers against car theft. There were three glaring mistakes in the French version and four in the German version, one of which made the message sound laughable.

I give up!

Surely, its less about the set one is put in and more about the quality of teaching and learning. I was an advocate of mixed ability teaching for many years. Some of my students persuaded me otherwise to some extent. One student in particular said that most students are well aware of their ability. He said he would rather be taught amongt students of a similar ability rather than stuggle amongst those who were clearly more able.

I might even have enjoyed PE lessons myself had a similar approach been taken when I was at school.

It is a great shame that the collegiate model of managing a school appears to have been lost for good.

In its place we find the Blairite cult of leadership informing the activities of most modern senior managers. Visions, strategies, and their pursuit of awards and logos for letter heads are all in vogue when undoubtedly we would all be better served by them just concentrating their time and efforts on balancing the books, recruiting the right staff and supporting the professionals in their work.

I totally agree that the focus of leadership should be on the things that make a difference to classroom practice. However, without a vision, how does one know where to take a school. Recruitment and support are essential, undoubtedly.

Hi

We are currently developing a resource for AQA English A and English Literature A GCSE, and are seeking experienced English teachers to assist us in its development. The teachers would be required to provide brief answers to questions relating to the specification and their teaching of it, as well as giving us feedback on our resource.

If anyone is interested in becoming involved, please email me directly or at sales@ictsolutions4teachers.co.uk, and I will let you have more details of what would be involved.

Many thanks

James

www.ictsolutions4teachers.co.uk

I would be happy to help.

Denise Burgess

Dartford Technology College

My name is Denise Burgess. I teach English and Media Studies at Dartford Technology College.