Author: Margaret Ballantyne, Midlothian
For the second year in a row, Midlothian Council has employed six French Modern Language Assistants (MLAs) who have worked across Midlothian schools in order to increase language capacity and confidence among our class teachers. The pupils have been very enthusiastic about learning French and French culture with native speakers. The French MLAs have participated in French lunchtime clubs, playground games and helped with assemblies.
In an effort to widen their scope to the community and younger children, the MLAs have taken part in French storytelling sessions in local libraries. In preparation for this, they participated in a storytelling training session organised by the French Institute in Edinburgh. The session was run by Valérie La Planche and gave the MLAs confidence in storytelling and the sort of books which might be suitable. One of the MLAs joined the French Institute Library and suitable books were selected for our sessions. The sessions were well attended by a mixture of classes from nearby schools and some local community groups. MLAs, Anne Larbre, Andrea Pittoreau and Lorry Dubois, did a fantastic job of helping children to improve their language skills by reading short stories in Mayfield, Gorebridge, Loanhead and Newtongrange libraries.
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