A 1+2 Approach

author Meryl James, SCILT/CISS, ()

Thousands of primary school pupils from P5, P6 or P7 have been rehearsing and performing an opera about the exciting voyages of 14th century Chinese Admiral Zheng He. The opera, called ‘The dragon of the Western Sea’, has been composed by Alan Penman with lyrics by Ross Stenhouse. Pupils learn the words and songs in their own classrooms and then work with a Scottish Opera team to prepare for a performance in front of classmates, friends and family.

‘The dragon of the Western Sea’ tells the story of Admiral Zheng He and his vast fleet of ships with 28,000 crew which set sail from China to Indonesia, India, Arabia and the grasslands of Africa in search of trade, treaties and treasure. The Emperor of the time was keen to create a maritime Silk Road between China, India and Africa.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) provided free workshops to schools who took part in the partnership, exploring the words of the songs (such as bei (North), nan (South), dong (East) and Xi (West)) and how the words relate to present-day place names such as Beijing, Nanjing, Dongjing and Xi’an. The opera provided a rich context for learning about the language and culture of China, as well as the culture, geography and history of other countries Zheng He explored.

At the end of last year, Hanban Council in Beijing, the headquarters of Confucius Institutes worldwide, named Scottish Opera a Specialist Confucius Classroom Hub. Scottish Opera is the first opera company in the world to be selected for this accolade, and is one of four new hubs in Scotland that are not based in a school setting.

CISS received feedback on the workshops they provided. This feedback included:

• the workshop was an excellent addition to the programme
• it consolidated the understanding of Zheng He
• the enthusiasm and knowledge of the presenter really brought the subject matter to life and inspired the children to learn more
• an excellent experience for the pupils and evaluated very highly by both pupils and staff alike

author Sylvia Georgin, Aberdeenshire Council, ()

It is with great sadness that Aberdeenshire schools say goodbye to two Spanish and six French MLAs and three German Educational Trainees (GETs). These young people have been an invaluable asset to our schools and provided pupils with an up-to-date view of their home country, its evolving language and culture. They have been motivational and an inspiration to all our pupils, and their impact has been huge.

Despite the initial challenges of coming to an unknown place, working in unfamiliar surroundings and negotiating a very rural location, Neus Colomer Collell, a Spanish MLA, summed up her experience by saying: “This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have learned so much and everyone around me has been so kind and helpful. I will really miss all the staff and pupils.”

Another assistant loves Scotland so much that she had decided to stay on and get a job here!

Thank you to all of them from all of us here in Aberdeenshire.

author Marie-Claire Lyon, Aberdeen City Council, ()

February 2018 saw Aberdeen City Council schools welcome 12 student teachers from the University of Grenoble-Alpes. This is the third year that we have participated in a programme of visits by French teacher trainees, and this year we extended the programme to our Northern Alliance partners: Highland schools welcomed five students and Shetland Islands schools welcomed four.

The students spent two weeks in primary and secondary schools and the feedback we received from them and the schools was very positive. They enhanced the language learning experience of the pupils, bringing elements of culture and supporting teachers with interactive activities as well as pronunciation. They enjoyed a day at the University of Aberdeen School of Education, where they took part in workshops organised by Scottish student teachers. This also provided opportunities for Scottish schools to establish a link with French partners.

This programme of visits is part of the students’ training programme in France and they take advantage of their school holidays to travel.

The French course co-ordinator in Grenoble has confirmed that interest is increasing and we are now working together to plan next year’s programme.

author Jacqueline Adam, Aberdeen City Council, ()

Aberdeen City Libraries hosted a family Global Storytime at the Central Children’s Library in March 2018 as part of the annual ‘Arts across learning’ festival fringe programme, organised by Aberdeen City Council’s Creative Learning Team. This was a fascinating opportunity to explore languages and stories from around the world and celebrate the diversity of cultures in Aberdeen.

Seven storytellers narrated stories or poems in Russian, German, Gaelic, French, Polish and Arabic. Hearing the language spoken by native speakers allowed the audience to appreciate the expressiveness of the languages and they could often grasp the essentials of the story despite not understanding every word. There was some very enthusiastic audience participation with the stories as we learned to count in Gaelic and interact with one of the best books ever written – ‘Press here’ by Hervé Tullet, told in its original French.

A traditional Russian story by Pushkin and expressive nursery rhymes in Polish left the audience wanting more of the rhythmic beauty of those languages. Well-loved children’s stories, ‘The very hungry caterpillar’ and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, were read in German and Arabic and enabled the audience to identify individual words from their previous knowledge of the books.

Feedback from the audience was very positive and some young members of the audience were lulled to sleep through the magic of the spoken word, showing just how powerful stories are in any language! While this was the first time Aberdeen City Libraries have held such an event, judging from the audience’s reaction, it certainly won’t be the last!

author Stacey Arneil, North Ayrshire Council, ()

Across North Ayrshire, teachers have been confidently embedding the language content from Years 1-3 of the North Ayrshire Language Learning Framework. Most of this language is taught through daily routines.

As teachers began implementing Years 4 and 5 of the framework, we realised that embedding the language content at these stages was more challenging for class teachers. With this in mind, we developed a resource pack for pupils to become leaders in language in their own classroom. The Lingo Leaders programme aims to support teachers by allowing pupils to take the lead in consolidating language learning in the classroom on a daily basis.

The resource pack contains everything the Lingo Leaders need to get started. They lead their peers in a variety of fun activities to practise their L2 for 10 minutes a day. They are responsible for helping the class teacher remember to allow them 10 minutes a day for language practice in the class. Lingo Leaders raise excitement about language learning while encouraging their peers to learn. In addition, they are developing fundamental leadership skills and building confidence in languages in their school.

Currently we have eight schools that have volunteered to pilot the Lingo Leaders programme. To measure the success of the programme, we are gathering information from the class teachers involved in order to record their opinions before, during and after the pilot. In addition, we will be in touch with the Lingo Leaders themselves to get their views. After the pilot is complete, we will look at ways to improve the programme and develop packs to support language learning in Years 5, 6 and 7 of our framework. Next session, we aim to rollout the Lingo Leaders programme across all primary schools in North Ayrshire in order to provide teachers with essential support in their classroom for a sustainable future for 1+2!

author Angela Noble, North Ayrshire Council, ()

In North Ayrshire ASN schools, the aim is to teach Makaton to pupils and their surrounding community in order to open up pupils’ world of communication for everyday needs, learning and play. Through this, we aim to:

• facilitate reciprocal communication between all members of our community
• allow children to communicate as fully as possible
• use Makaton to enhance a system of total communication

Once Makaton is well-established within these schools and surrounding communities, we aim to teach Spanish alongside Makaton.

We have a very pro-active working party comprised of senior management, teachers, speech and language therapists and the North Ayrshire 1+2 Team. Every member of staff in each school is being trained up in level 1 Makaton this year and further training is already in place for CLPL twilights and in-service days next year. Parents are learning alongside staff.

Eglinton Park rangers and café staff are going to receive Makaton training, meaning Eglinton Park will be the first place of business in the community to be ‘Makaton friendly’. They will gain valid certification and look forward to being able to chat with young people who regularly frequent this beautiful space. We hope many more businesses will follow suit.

Stacey and I are learning Makaton alongside families at Elderbank Primary. We will be able to sign alongside French/Spanish in all schools. This is a very exciting project, which is taking shape and making good sense for everyone.

Languages for all and all for languages!

author Marie-Claire Lyon, Aberdeen City Council, ()

The Northern Alliance Learning Festival (formerly Aberdeen Learning Festival) took place in February 2018 in Aberdeen. We welcomed Janette Kelso and Meryl James from SCILT who ran a workshop for teachers.

We also organised an Erasmus+ workshop to inform teachers about opportunities and procedures to apply for grants for immersion courses and exchanges. A group of Aberdeen City Council teachers, who took part in the course in October 2017 at the Cavilam Alliance Française in Vichy in France, shared their experiences. They highlighted the ways in which it has enhanced their teaching practice and had an impact on their pupils.

The next group of primary teachers is preparing to go to Vichy this summer.

author 1+2 Development Officer Team, South Ayrshire Council , ()

On 2 May 2018, South Ayrshire’s outdoor education centre, Dolphin House, was buzzing with the sound of primary pupils speaking French. Dolphin House is situated within the beautiful Culzean Estate, providing a stimulating, natural environment, which was fully utilised.

The event was composed of a variety of cross-curricular workshops which illustrated how to embed language learning throughout a school day. Although essential elements such as daily routines and classroom commands featured in the programme, these were used to support innovative and active experiences. In addition, aspects of learning for sustainability and outdoor learning were also included.

The five primaries in the Marr cluster were asked to participate. Each school sent four upper primary pupils and, as the day progressed, it was obvious that the interactions naturally added to established transition working within the cluster.

The first task was to make a fortune-teller so that the children could ask basic questions about colours, numbers and animals. This was a super icebreaker. Children from each school were then split into two groups for the morning session as each group would be experiencing different workshops.

One group started their morning with a fun game of L’arc de tir (archery). The language focus was on colours and numbers. Children were supported to speak as much French as possible: totalling scores, celebrating achievements, following instructions, etc. They then went back into a classroom setting where they learned how to establish a morning routine in French including days of the week, dates, months, weather and classroom commands. This involved the use of puppets, flashcards, active games and songs.

The other group spent their time on the beach where they carried out a conservation task. They were asked to hunt for natural and manmade items using a checklist with French vocabulary and picture clues. Despite the blustery weather, the children took to their task with enthusiasm! Back in the classroom, they practised their knowledge of parts of the body but with a twist – the Culzean Estate has recently become home to some Highland cattle. In recognition of this fact, a beetle drive activity had been adapted to accommodate this theme. The children took great pride in their artistic efforts!

Prior to lunch, the two groups came back together in order to share the learning with their peers. One of the main aims of the event was to enable the children to teach French in their own schools with confidence. This shared learning opportunity provided them with an initial experience of ‘being the teacher’! Through this feedback session, discussion followed about how to replicate these activities in schools – eg using hula hoops and beanbags for a colour and number target game, or carrying out a litter pick in French in the school grounds.

On the journey through the woodland area back to the bus, children had fun taking part in a military-style, French alphabet march. They were delighted to shout their French and give passers-by a wave!

Feedback from schools has been extremely positive and a week later children are already modelling French to their peers! The next step is to offer this event to other South Ayrshire clusters as we move towards full implementation in 2020.

author Kate Findlater, West Lothian, ()

Lead Linguists from Whitburn Academy planned and devised a project for all P7s within West Lothian’s Whitburn cluster. Each school was given a different Francophonie country to research. Flags, characters, maps, fact files and more were created by the children and work was displayed for all to see! From this initial research activity, the Lead Linguists team developed a transition event, which took place at Whitburn Academy.

The P7s were encouraged to ask and answer questions as part of a ‘Find someone who…’ activity. After the initial icebreaker, teams were established and encouraged to look at all the different stands – from the French Polynesian Islands to Gabon, Senegal and more! They were given a quiz that allowed the children to utilise their reading for information skills. There was a great buzz about all the beautiful work that had been created and it was a fantastic opportunity for the P7s to meet their peers from other schools. After the quiz, third year pupils from Whitburn Academy did a presentation that outlined the value of learning languages. The event was rounded off with a video clip showing celebrities who speak a variety of languages such as Rita Ora and Hugh Jackman. Hopefully the day inspired young people to continue their language learning and become Lead Linguists of the future!