Events

Join us in Edinburgh on Tuesday 24 September for our annual Conference, starting at 9.00 am with coffee and croissants! The conference this year is entitled "Best Practices in Language Learning and Teaching from Early Years to Secondary Education". The main themes will be: Transition, Engaging the Wider Community, CLIL and Online Training. Our Keynote speaker is Jane Harvey, president of ALL, with guest speakers sharing good practice from all over Scotland. The conference is aimed at Primary/Secondary teachers, Development Officers and Quality Improvement Officers. We still have a few places available! Please contact info@powerlanguage.net ASAP to register or click here to see the draft programme.

More information

University of Edinburgh

Each year the University hosts a series of inaugural lectures given by Professors or Chairs newly appointed by the University. The speakers give an illuminating overview of their contribution to their field.

Lara Ryanzanova-Clarke is the Director of the Princess Dashkova Russian Centre. She is also Professor and Head of Russian in the Department of European Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh.

In her Inaugural Lecture for the University, Lara will be exploring the amazing transformations of the Russian language, its speakers and their communities outside Russia in the post-Soviet period.

The talk will be followed by a drinks reception. Tickets for the event are free but must be booked in advance.

Visit the website for more information and to book your place. 

More information

SEC, Glasgow

Registration for the Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) 2019 is now open.

The Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) is the annual conference and exhibition for educational practitioners across Scotland and is completely free to attend. Organised by Education Scotland, SLF is the biggest professional learning event for Scottish education which aims to inspire, innovate and inform great educational practice. 
 
With a fantastic line-up of keynote speakers and boasting more than 100 seminars, opportunities for professional networking and an exhibition with over 225 exhibitors, there’s something for everyone involved in Scottish education at SLF.

New this year, the SLF will also feature:

• Twilight Sessions: For those who can't make it along during the day, SLF has introduced a number of sessions starting from 5pm
• Health and Wellbeing Live: On Thursday 26 September, this interactive experience will focus on the Health and Wellbeing ethos and curriculum
• The Village Green: an opportunity to hear about the great practice happening within the Regional Improvement Collaboratives across Scotland

Language professionals will be particularly interested in the seminars on:

• Gaelic Medium curriculum
• Translanguaging
• International education in the primary school
• Digital tools in language learning

Visit the website to access full programme details and to register.

More information

University of Stirling

To celebrate International Translation Day 2019, Paul Kearns MCIL and Eneida Garcia Villanueva MCIL (Chartered Linguist) will be delivering two interactive workshops in MT and the Ethics of PSI respectively. 

Visit the website for more information and to book online now.  CPD: 4.5 hours.

The CIOL Scottish Society presentations and CPD workshops scheduled for 2019 are all free of charge to attend and carry CPD hours.

We are very much looking forward to having more student representation in our activities. If you would like to get more involved by volunteering your time and skills on a regular or ad hoc basis, please get in touch at: scottishsociety@ciol.org.uk.

Stay tuned for updates on Twitter @CIOLScotland and our CIOL Scottish Society webpage

Remember! CIOL student membership is entirely free for the duration of your studies. Follow this link to register as a Student Affiliate: https://www.ciol.org.uk/student-affiliate

More information

Lancaster University

This ‘think tank’-style conference is part of a project that explores cross-sector collaborations in language education in the UK. We invite primary and secondary teachers, academics, other language professionals and policy makers to discuss ideas to tackle the ‘language crisis’ in the UK, and explore potential cross-sector collaborations. The event will result in the publication of open-access position papers with recommendations for future developments in British language education.

Attendance is free but registration is required by 16 September.

Visit the website for full programme details and to book your place.

More information

Motherwell

Grassroots professional learning by teachers, for teachers. The emphasis is on conversation so please come along and share your ideas, or join the conversation. We are more interested in the chat than the power points, so no need to spend time making them!

There’ll be an exciting and eclectic programme of learning conversations led by teachers, a sharing table of resources & readings and a mini TeachMeet during the day. Teachers from all areas of education are welcome.

Visit the website for more information and to register for this free event.

More information

Cardiff

This is a unique opportunity for modern language teachers of pupils aged 16-19 to attend a fully funded professional development seminar in Cardiff from Thursday 10 October to Saturday 12 October 2019.

Delegates will share best practice, partner with teachers from six different European countries and start an international classroom project.

Visit the website to find out more and apply by 7 July 2019.

More information

London

The German Embassy Career Fair is back for 2019! The Fair will be held at the German House on Wednesday 16 October 2019, 10am-4pm.

The organisers are the German Embassy London, the German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce and the Greater London German network, who want to give graduates and university students, as well as pupils an insight into future career options.

At the fair visitors will have the opportunity to:

• meet representatives of German companies as well as international companies with important business links to German speaking countries
• discuss employment opportunities at these companies
• hear about the importance of German language skills in a career context

Visitors will also be able to get detailed information on German language learning, studying in Germany and how German and British schools can collaborate on projects from the Embassy's attending partner organisations, such as Goethe-Institut, DAAD and UK-German Connection.

Please note there will be four slots running throughout the day and visitors need to register for one particular time slot. 

Visit the website for more information.

More information

University of Cambridge

In the context of the AHRC Open World Initiative and the MEITS project (www.meits.org), we are running a two-day workshop (October 24 and 25) in Cambridge entitled Early language learning in school: What it (can) look(s) like.

The aim of the workshop is to discuss what language learning in primary and lower secondary school looks (or can look) like. We hope that this workshop will promote foreign language learning and support the transition from primary to secondary school as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. To this end, it brings together academics from the UK and EU with teachers of modern foreign languages in primary and secondary schools, teacher trainers and policy makers from the UK.

Visit the website for more information and to book your place.

More information

Germany

The theme of the Fifth Saarbrücken Conference on Foreign Language Teaching is productivity in linguistics and language teaching, the productive use of language often being marked by an undeniable magic. This magic does not only consist in the fact that people are capable of understanding each other, provided that they master the same code. It is also true when people talk about things they have never talked about and when new ideas occur to them or when they use notions and words that have not existed before, i.e. when they employ language productively and construct their own world. The relationship between the productivity and the magic of language works on various levels.

Aiming to provide a platform to bring scholars and researchers together for mutual inspiration and idea exchange, we hope we will have the pleasure of your participation in our fifth conference in 2019.

Visit the website or see the attached announcement to find out more about the conference, speakers and to register.

More information

Stirling

SQA is holding an Understanding Standards event for Advanced Higher Modern Languages on Thursday 31 October 2019.

This is a full day CPD event taking place in Stirling. The event involves a series of workshops and will provide delegates with the opportunity to develop their understanding of aspects of course assessment for the Advanced Higher Modern Languages course, notably Portfolio, Overall Purpose Question and Discursive Writing.

Delegates will have the opportunity to discuss aspects with colleagues and gain feedback from senior examining team members.

There is still availability for the following languages: Chinese Languages, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

To book a place on the event and for further information please visit the website. 

More information

Stirling

Teachers working at every level in Scottish education are invited to join Scotdec in Edinburgh for this free 3-part course.

Learning for the SDGs is a free 3-part course designed for GTCS registered teachers and early years practitioners in Scotland.

The course will take place in Stirling and consists of two twilight face-to-face sessions (2 hours each) followed by a one-hour online training session.

Please note the 3-part course runs across the following dates:

• 2 October 2019: 16:15 - 18:15
• 9 October 2019: 16:15 - 18:15
• 7 November 2019: 16:30 (remote webinar)

Visit the website for more information and to book your place.

More information

Edinburgh International Conference Centre

Join us for our 8th Youth Summit to reflect on our experiences over the past year and to look to the future. We hope that you will want to participate in the above celebration of song, dance, music, video and poems in the Chinese language.

Contributors to the 2019 Youth Summit (schools and individuals) are invited to contact SCEN as soon as possible so that we can start planning a programme of events for the day. As in previous years the core of the Summit will be contributions from schools and individuals showcasing the developing learning of Chinese language throughout Scotland. 

Please note that each contribution has to be limited to 3 minutes maximum so that we can fit in as many in as possible into a busy schedule!

A significant feature at this year's Summit will be an important contribution from Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, President of SCEN, who steps down this year after 12 years in the position. We shall also be welcoming our new President, Judith McClure, formally Chair of SCEN. 

Please start thinking about your school's/your contribution to this year's Summit. Please register with us as soon as possible and further information will be provided soon thereafter. 

Please email SCEN both to confirm attendance and to discuss possible presentations.

University of Stirling

This year's SALT conference is taking place at the University of Stirling on 9 November!

If you'd like to lead a workshop or round table at this year's #SALT2019 event, please submit your proposal via the appropriate link below. The theme is 'Together Everyone Achieves More.'

Workshop

Round Table

We are welcoming proposals from primary, secondary and university colleagues.

For more information see the attached flyer.

Olympia, London

The Language Show is the exhibition for language learners, language teachers and everyone who loves languages. 

Now in its 31st year, Europe’s largest language event returns to Olympia in 2019 and offers outstanding talks, classes and features along with the latest products and techniques, ways to learn, ways to teach as well as fun and entertainment.

Everything - talks, classes, seminars, admission - is FREE!

Visit the website for more information and to book your place.

More information

Olympia, London

The Language Show is the exhibition for language learners, language teachers and everyone who loves languages. 

Now in its 31st year, Europe’s largest language event returns to Olympia in 2019 and offers outstanding talks, classes and features along with the latest products and techniques, ways to learn, ways to teach as well as fun and entertainment.

Everything - talks, classes, seminars, admission - is FREE!

Visit the website for more information and to book your place.

More information

University of St Andrews

The School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews would like to invite schools to an exciting networking event where pupils can put any questions they may have about language learning, university and living abroad directly to current Modern Languages students, and then continue relaxed, informative conversation over refreshments together. The event will be held in the Arts Lecture Theatre, University of St Andrews (main entrance directly from The Scores).

We would love to welcome pupils from your schools (up to ten S5/S6 pupils per school) regardless of subject background. Please let us know of your intention to attend by Thursday, 7 November by emailing number of pupils, name(s) of accompanying teacher(s) and of school to modlangs@st-andrews.ac.uk (FAO Annette Zimmermann, School Engagement Officer, University of St Andrews).

There will also be the opportunity for teachers to meet with staff and undergraduates, to learn more about our courses in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Persian, Russian and Spanish and to share experiences.

Downloadable flyer attached.

London

Teach Languages is a conference and exhibition for language teachers organised by Linguascope. The 2020 edition will take place on Saturday 8 February 2020. The theme will be "Listen Up!" - focusing on developing listening skills.

A day pass gives you access to any sessions and the exhibition area for the whole day. It also includes your delegate pack, refreshments and lunch.

Speakers include Steve Smith, Martine Pillette, Jennifer Wozniak, and Sylvie Bartlett-Rawlings.

Visit the website to download the full programme and to book your place.

More information

The Glasgow Academy

The Glasgow Academy will be hosting an afternoon of presentations by Gianfranco Conti, PhD, on Friday 28 February 2020.

Gianfranco is the co-author of 'The Language Teacher toolkit' and founder of www.language-gym.com.

Visit the website to secure your place.

More information

Various

Discover the weird and wonderful world of languages!

The UK has a museum for dog collars and lawn mowers, but not for languages. This autumn MEITS is launching an innovative Pop-Up World of Languages to fill this gap.

Take a journey through the three zones:

• Languages and me
• Languages around me
• Languages in the world

to uncover the hidden treasures of languages through family-friendly, hands-on activities and games.

Events are taking place in Cambridge, Belfast, Edinburgh, Nottingham & London.

Visit the website for more information and the full schedule of dates.

More information

Online

Aligned with Scotland’s education priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this professional learning will support you to develop the confidence to plan for, and implement, Learning for Sustainability in your practice, making connections at individual, school and global levels, and inspiring students to collaborate on the issues that shape our world.

Created by the University of Edinburgh and Learning for Sustainability Scotland, for the British Council Connecting Classrooms programme, this online course is accredited by GTCS and your engagement could lead to GTCS Professional Recognition.

Visit the website for more information and to register for the free programme commencing 25 October 2019.

More information