Latest News

A selection of language-related news. Does not claim to be comprehensive or represent the views of SCILT.

Latest News

15 April 2025 (University of Strathclyde)

The Institute of Education at the University of Strathclyde is seeking views on their current CLPL (Career-Long Professional Learning) provision across schools, colleges, the third sector and any other organisations felt relevant. Completion of a short survey will help inform understanding around what’s working, where there may be gaps, and how future CLPL offerings could be improved to better support different partners.

If you’re able to take a few minutes to complete the survey - and/or share it with others in your network - it would really be appreciated. Thanks so much for your time and input!

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15 April 2025 (UK-German Connection)

UK-German Connection has a range of international upskilling opportunities for teachers and schools to enhance intercultural awareness and understanding. Follow the relevant link below to learn more about the upcoming activities and apply now for the 2025-26 session!

  • Host a teacher from Germany - host a German teacher (in-person or virtually) for one, two or three weeks during the academic year – no costs involved for UK schools and no requirement to teach German.
  • Professional Enrichment programme - funded opportunity for qualified UK teachers of any subject and school type to visit a German school in-person for one or two weeks during the academic year of 2025-26.
  • Sustainable Development training seminar (10-13 June, Belfast) - This seminar in partnership with LFEE will bring together teachers from the UK and Germany to discuss sustainable development in schools and to devise strategies on implementation across the curriculum with an international outlook. Open to schools with no existing UK-German partnership and no requirement to offer German at your school.

10 April 2025 (Scottish Book Trust)

Are you someone with stories to share? Or a teacher working with young writers we should know about? We're looking for our next Scots writer of the year. 

Stories, poems, spoken word pieces, comics, videos or other pieces of writing – we want to see it all, as long as it's in Scots and under 2,500 words or up to ten minutes long.

Open to ages 11-18.

Visit the Scottish Book Trust website for more information. Entry deadline: midday 16 July 2025.

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8 April 2025 (Express Yourself NE)

Wow! We are amazed and delighted at the level of participation in Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages this year. 93,798 children and young people from 428 schools took part in a wide range of free Festival activities and events for 3-18 year olds from January to March. This figure is higher than the number who took part in our first four annual festivals combined.

Designed to spark curiosity, inspire a passion for learning languages and celebrate diverse home languages and cultures, as well as having lots of fun – the Festival also aims to help children and young people build the skills, confidence, awareness and attributes they need in an increasingly interconnected, multilingual and multicultural society.

Headlines in the article include links to a range of resources available free anytime to UK schools to support language learning and teaching from North East, national and international organisations.

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7 April 2025 (The Herald)

A classic Scots phrase meaning bed or sleep has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. 

The term 'beddy-baw', which dates back to at least the 1860s, was added to the dictionary last month. 

It has been used for generations to tell children it's time to get to bed.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary's website, the earlier evidence for the use of beddy-baw is from the Buchan Observer in 1864. 

It said: "My sonsy wean! My darlin' bairn! My bonnie sweet wee lammie! Cosy i' yer beddy-baw, Crawin' to yer mammy!"

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31 March 2025 (The Scotsman)

As a society, we should do more to help the sizeable proportion of the population for whom communication is difficult.

The irony of being re-introduced to British Sign Language (BSL) in a parliament about to make life immeasurably harder for its users did not pass me by. I was delighted MPs were offered the chance to improve the accessibility of what we do. Then I realised how little it was, and how late.

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27 March 2025 (Institut français)

Earth Month 2025 offers a series of events during April and May aimed at fostering cultural enrichment and cross-cultural exchange on climate action, strengthening ties between France, Germany, and Scotland.

Through a collaboration between the Goethe-Institut Glasgow, Institut français d’Écosse, and ClimateCulture, the Earth Month brings together artists, thinkers, and changemakers to showcase the essential role of culture in addressing sustainability challenges through film, music, performance, and more.

There's a mix of events, including French storytelling for children, some of which incur a charge. 

Visit the Institut français website for programme details.

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27 March 2025 (Lingobox Learning)

French Easter Activities Webinar! 

Instead of running a live French Easter webinar this term, I've recorded one and uploaded it to Youtube instead. It's about 20 mins long and I've organised it into chapters so that you can skip to different sections more quickly! The webinar includes:

  • Planning Primary French Easter activities
  • French Easter vocabulary
  • Introducing new language - active approaches!
  • Primary French Easter games ideas
  • French Easter egg hunt activities
  • French Easter bells story
  • Easter arts & crafts in French!

Here's the link to the Easter French webinar

I'm planning on doing more of these webinars so it would be amazing to get any feedback and please do like, subscribe, comment, share the video etc! 

Primary French Easter Activities Blog

There's also a blog post on Lingobox Learning which includes lots of activities, ideas and info on language for Primary French Easter activities. 

Primary French Easter Playlist – Youtube

Lastly, there’s a complete playlist of French Easter Activities and Songs, including our French Easter Bells Animation included in our Youtube Primary French Easter Playlist.

Any questions, comments or feedback, please just get in touch via the website! Joyeuses Pâques! 

27 March 2025 (Goethe-Institut)

The Goethe-Institut's next Karriere Quantum camp for European students aged 16-18 takes place in London 20-26 July 2025.

Students and teachers from across Europe interested in all subjects are welcome to apply for the educational camp and there is no prior knowledge required.

Scholarships for all participants will be granted.

Visit the Goethe-Institut website to find out more about the camp and to apply by 27 April 2025.

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27 March 2025 (SCILT)

The Scottish Languages Employability Award (SLEA) helps schools and businesses to build partnerships through languages in order to develop young people’s learning about the world of work, the value of language skills, and global and intercultural competencies.

Our most recent verification date in November 2024 saw two more schools achieve an award. The first of these was for SLEA - Local, an award which aims to encourage and support the development of partnership activities involving a number of schools within a local area or network. We were also delighted to receive our first event SLEA - Green submission, which seeks to encourage the development of a global citizenship approach to employability in the languages curriculum. You can find out more about each of these projects below:

The next SLEA verification date for all awards, including the recently launched SLEA - Multilingual, is 16 May 2025. Visit the SLEA webpage via the link below for details on how to apply.

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25 March 2025 (Civil Service Languages Network)

British Council, GCHQ and the Civil Service Languages Network are working together to promote language learning among pupils in UK schools.

Your S2/S3 pupils, who will be choosing their National Qualifications, and S4/S5 pupils choosing their Highers, are invited to our open, online events – see dates below. There, they will hear from speakers with different roles across government who have used languages in their career, and how either studying a language in school, or speaking a heritage language, has enriched their life and career. Pupils will have the chance to ask the speakers questions (via their teacher) through a Q&A session.

You can see an example of a previous event here: Where will languages take me? | British Council.

The online events are free of charge, and I hope to make recordings available of some of the events. To express interest, and help us keep in touch, please complete the form.

We look forward to welcoming your pupils to our events!

Summer term 2025

S4/S5: Tue June 3rd 2025, 09:15-10:15

S2/S3: Wed June 11th 2025, 09:15-10:15

Autumn term 2025

S4/S5: Wed Oct 15th 2025 09:00-10:00

S4/S5: Tue Nov 11th 2025 09:15-10:15

S2/S3: Thur Nov 20th 2025 09:00-10:00

Spring term 2026

S2/S3: Wed Jan 14th 2026 09:00-10:00

S4/S5: Thur Jan 20th 2026 09:00-10:00

S2/S3: Tue Feb 10th 2026 09:15-10:15

25 March 2025 (British Council)

Modern Language Assistants are speakers of French, German, Irish, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish who can help students in the UK build their cultural capital by developing their linguistic and cross-cultural skills.

A real life modern language speaker is an additional resource for you in the classroom giving context to language learning, talking about their experiences in their home culture and inspiring students to develop their ability to communicate their own world views. By introducing a modern language assistant to your classroom, you can enhance language learning and enrich pupil experience. 

Applications to host a language assistant in 2025-26 are open until 30 April 2025 (for Chinese Language Assistants applications close 2 April 2025).

Visit the British Council website for more information and to hear the benefits of hosting a modern language assistant from those who've done so.

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28 January 2025 (SCILT)

Calling all German teachers! The next meetings of the TOGS network will take place on MS Teams on:

  • Tuesday 25 February (4.30-5.30pm), and
  • Monday 12 May (4.30-5.30pm) 

Open to all primary and secondary practitioners who teach – or would like to teach – German in their context, this network offers colleagues a chance to share experiences, practice and ideas to enable German to grow in Scottish schools. If you are not yet on our direct mailing list, please visit the Eventbrite page to sign up for our next meeting by Friday 21 February. Wir freuen uns Euch zu sehen! 

Read more...

23 January 2025 (SCILT)

SCILT, in partnership with Qatar Foundation International, has opened registrations for schools who would like to take part in our Discovering the World of Arabic programme in session 2025/26.  

Schools can apply for our longer courses at BGE or SP level, which run from September to March, or select our shorter introductory courses to offer an experience of Arabic as an L3 to their learners. 

All participating schools will receive: 

  • A dedicated live online lesson delivered every week via Glow Teams for each individual school (time to be agreed with each school) 
  • Asynchronous materials to consolidate and further explore Arabic language and Arab cultures 
  • Ongoing support from the SCILT team  
  • Schools that are new to the programme will also be eligible for a start-up grant of £1000, while returning schools will receive £500 to support their classes to continue learning Arabic. Schools can bid for further funding to provide resources and experiences that enhance the language learning and promote a positive experience of Arab cultures. 

The collaboration will provide an opportunity for local authority secondary schools to offer L3 learning experiences in Arabic language and cultures. BGE and Senior Phase courses have been co-created by the SCILT team and specially commissioned writers, with language lessons delivered online by teachers of Arabic. Both courses focus on developing conversational Arabic which will enhance learners’ understanding of Arab cultures and, in the Senior Phase course, their employability skills.  

Discovering the World of Arabic is aimed at non-heritage, beginner learners who are seeking to enhance their language learning experience and develop their portfolio of skills. Schools can choose to take part in the beginner course or, if your class has already completed this course, you can select the post-beginner course to consolidate and deepen Arabic learning. The lessons give learners the chance to explore aspects of Arab cultures as well as providing a solid linguistic foundation for learning the world’s fifth most spoken language. 

Places are limited for this opportunity, so if you would like your school to be considered to take part, please complete the note of interest form via the link below by Friday 25 April 2025. Responses given on the note of interest form may inform the final selection of schools for this opportunity. 

Please contact SCILT-Arabic@strath.ac.uk  if you have any questions.  

DTW Arabic Secondary 2025-26 note of interest registrations

23 January 2025 (SCILT)

SCILT, in partnership with Qatar Foundation International, has opened registrations of interest for local authority primary schools in Scotland who would like to open the door to the Arab world through our Discovering the World of Arabic programme in session 2025/26.   

This programme provides an opportunity for local authority primary schools to offer L3 learning experiences in Arabic language and cultures. Schools can choose to take part in the beginner course or, if your class has already completed this course, you can select the post-beginner course to consolidate and deepen Arabic learning.

Both courses are offered as a ten-week interdisciplinary blocks of learning and are aimed at P5-P7 pupils. The courses have been developed and are taught by experienced teachers who are fluent speakers of Arabic. The lessons give learners the chance to explore aspects of Arab cultures as well as providing a solid linguistic foundation for learning the world’s fifth most spoken language. 

The courses are delivered online, through a mix of live and recorded classes, with supplementary materials being shared via Glow Teams.  

All participating primary schools will receive: 

  • A live online lesson each week via Glow Teams 
  • A loan box containing a range of artefacts 
  • Asynchronous materials shared in Glow Teams to consolidate and extend learning 
  • Funding opportunities 
  • Ongoing support from the SCILT team 

Live lessons will be scheduled on Thursdays or Fridays. Schools can opt to join the programme in term 1 (September to December) or term 2 (January to March).  

Schools that are new to the programme will also be eligible for a start-up grant of £1000, while returning schools will receive £500 to support their classes to continue learning Arabic. Schools can bid for further funding to provide resources and experiences that enhance the language learning and promote a positive experience of Arab cultures. 

Previous participants have told us: 

‘The materials that were provided to the schools were great, the workbooks were very useful throughout the course. The mix of live and recorded sessions was a good idea.’ 

'We really like the box of resources. We liked learning about the different colours and clothes. We enjoyed using the genial.ly websites.’ 

Places are limited for this opportunity, so if you would like your school to be considered to take part, please complete the note of interest form via the link below by Friday 25 April 2025

Please contact SCILT-Arabic@strath.ac.uk  if you have any questions.  

DTW Arabic Primary 2025-26 note of interest registrations 

23 August 2024 (SCILT)

Calling new and recent entrants to primary teaching in Scotland. Undergraduate and postgraduate primary education students at Scottish universities and qualified primary teachers in your first four years post-qualification – we mean you! 

If you have an interest in developing your practice relating to the languages - both home and taught, signed and spoken – represented in your classroom, then you will not want to miss SCILT’s ECT Primary Languages Signpost Sessions. Tailored just for you. 

Our Signpost Sessions will be chock full of: 

  • ideas and advice on how to support multilingual pupils and their families

  • strategies for teaching additional languages 

  • the chance to network informally with others at a similar stage in their career across the country 

Join us online on MS Teams, after school on the last Wednesday of the month every second month. It’ll be a friendly, informal opportunity to connect and ask questions, to find support and solutions. Whatever you need, we will point you in the right direction. 

  • 25 September 2024, 16.00–17.00. Signpost 1: First steps in teaching languages in primary 

  • 27 November 2024, 16.00–16.45. Signpost 2: Pedagogies for multilingual primary classrooms 

  • 29 January 2025, 16.00–16.45. Signpost 3: Digital tools for primary languages 

  • 26 March 2025, 16.00–16.45. Signpost 4: Target language phonics 

  • 28 May 2025, 16.00–16.45. Signpost 5: Interdisciplinary language learning 

Sign up for as many as you wish.

Please also find attached flyer which can be shared with colleagues. 

We can’t wait to see you there. 

Read more...


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