Latest News

20 June 2024 (SCILT)

Building on the success of the “Moving Forward with Languages” workshop series, SCILT has teamed up with languages departments from universities across Scotland to run not one, but two language conference days specifically for Higher and Advanced Higher language learners and their teachers!  

Registrations will open in August for the first conference day, which will take place on Wednesday 11 September at the University of Strathclyde. The second conference day will take place in early December and the date will be confirmed early in the new session.  

Both conference days will feature an in-person programme for those who can attend physically, and a separate online programme for those who would like to attend  virtually. Workshops will cover a range of languages, and learners will have the chance to gather advice and tips on the languages that they are learning right now and get a flavour of what it is like to study languages at university level. 

If you would like to receive more information about these conferences after the summer break, please register your interest via the form link below.

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20 June 2024 (Institut français)

On Friday 27 September the Institut français d’Ecosse, together with European consulates and cultural organisations, will be celebrating European Day for Languages in Edinburgh with morning activities aimed at S2 and S3 pupils and two conferences in the afternoon. One of the conferences will focus on how European writers foster creativity and ‘out of the box’ thinking style through language and the other on multilingualism and creativity. They will be followed by a cocktail.

Watch this space for further information to come late August!

You can also contact Charlotte Hyvernaud, Education attachée, Institut français d’Ecosse : charlotte.hyvernaud@institut-francais.org.uk

20 June 2024 (Institut français)

Come to discover the insight of working for the World’s Greatest Arts Festival, see our “Vive le Fringe!” shows for free and be surrounded by creative and artistic minds!

Our volunteer missions involve supporting our communication team (flyers distribution, social media), our box office team (welcoming the public, checking tickets, be aware of our safety guidelines) and our cultural team (liaising with artists).

Want to know more? Send us an email at vivelefringe.ifecosse@gmail.com with the subject line “FRINGE VOLUNTEER” indicating your availability in August, some details about yourself and a few sentences about why you would like to volunteer with us. Applications are open for those aged 16 and up until Sunday 30 June 2024 at midnight. If you are aged between 16 and 17 you will need a parent or guardian’s permission.

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20 June 2024 (Teaching Bursary in Scotland)

The Teaching Bursary Scheme is open to individuals wishing to undertake a one-year PGDE ITE course in Scotland that leads to the award of registered teacher status in Scotland's hardest-to-fill teaching subjects.

This year's eligbile teaching subjects include Modern Languages at secondary level and Gaelic at both secondary and primary.

Teaching Bursary in Scotland 2024 will be open for applications shortly. Visit the website for more information.

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20 June 2024 (Institut français)

The 'Concours de la francophonie' : an annual rendez-vous for schools!

The 'Concours de la francophonie' is organised every year by the Institut français d’Ecosse since its creation in 2016.

For the 2025 edition, there will be two competitions:

– One for primary school pupils

– One for secondary school pupils

For the first time the competition associates the Institut français d’Ecosse with the French Film Festival UK Learning Programme (FFF UK).

All primary and secondary schools in Scotland offering French and participating in the French Film Festival UK Learning Programme will be eligible to enter the 'Concours de la francophonie', in line with the rules. Submission deadline: 15 January 2025.

Visit the 'Concours de la francophonie' website for full details.

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18 June 2024 (Classical Association of Scotland)

The Classical Association of Scotland is thrilled to open registration for the 2024 Ancient Voices Summer Programme!

The Summer School will be held online (via Zoom) from Monday 8 July to Sunday 4 August. As in previous years, CAS aims to offer a range of courses at different levels, representing a friendly, cost-effective and low-pressure environment for learners to enjoy engaging with languages of the ancient past.

Core Latin and Greek options will once again be supplemented with Aramaic, Hebrew, Hieroglyphs, Sumerian and Ugaritic, offering participants a rare opportunity to try some lesser taught languages. There is also the School to University course which aims to provide students with an overview of the opportunities, challenges and expectations connected to the study of Classics subjects at university level. 

Visit the Ancient Voices Summer Programme website for full details and to register by 30 June.

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18 June 2024 (UK-German Connection)

UK-German Connection is inviting applications for a funded school partnership seminar taking place in Mainz, Germany from 21 to 24 November 2024. Open to UK teachers (all sectors and subject areas) with no active UK-German school partnership who are interested in linking with schools in Germany. The seminar includes school visits to gain insights into school life in Germany.

Visit the UK-German Connection website for full details and to apply by 10 July.

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18 June 2024 (French Film Festival)

The French Film Festival UK 2024 Learning Programme will once again be bringing French-speaking cinema into schools free of charge this autumn! The programme of four films, each accompanied by learning packs, will run between 28 October and 18 December. This year we are linking up with the French Institute in Scotland for the Francophonie Competition for schools.

Full details will be available on the French Film Festival website shortly and book up your film from mid-August onwards.

The attached programme flyer contains booking links and email contacts for further information about the learning resources and the Francophonie competition.

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18 June 2024 (SCILT / Education Scotland / BDA)

SCILT, Education Scotland and the British Deaf Association (BDA) have developed a case study that provides an insight into the experiences and challenges of Deaf young people in Scotland attending secondary school, college, or university. The case study focuses on what supported the Deaf young people to effectively engage and achieve in an educational setting. It also considers the benefits and opportunities of having Deaf and hearing parents involved in the wider life of the school and how they engaged in their child’s learning.

This case study highlights the need for understanding the opportunities, challenges, and experiences that Deaf young people can face in education. It also provides an insight into what supportive approaches allow them to engage in their learning which, is key to improving their outcomes.

In addition to the case study, there are reflective questions to help practitioners consider their practice in relation to the experiences and challenges of Deaf children and young people attending school, college, or university in Scotland.

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18 June 2024 (Queen Margaret University)

Teachers in Scotland are invited to take part in a research study examining attitudes and perceptions to international education and the benefits to schools, learners and teachers, as well as the challenges and barriers to participation to international education. International education activity is defined as teacher training with an international element, visits and exchanges and collaborative partnerships.

More information can be found on the survey webpage which can also be accessed via the QR code on the attached flyer.

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17 June 2024 (British Council)

Bring international learning to life by working with an overseas partner school!

Whether you want to increase understanding of global issues or enhance language learning, a school partnership can help you better engage pupils, reinforce existing projects, introduce new teaching approaches and, ultimately, improve learner outcomes.

The British Council offers a range of resources, guidance and learning opportunities for every step of your partnership journey – whether you’re looking for a partner or want to take an existing partnership to the next level. 

Check out the free database of schools around the world looking to partner with a school in the UK.

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16 June 2024 (The Guardian)

The ancient Cornish language has been declared dehwelans dhyworth an marow – back from the dead – amid a rise in popularity thanks to Covid-19 and a critically acclaimed psych-pop star.

There has been a significant rise in the number of people learning Cornish since the pandemic lockdown forced classes online, according to the volunteer network An Rosweyth.

“We have people in America, we have people in Australia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey,” said Emma Jenkin, its support officer, who said her last online lesson had “a couple of people in Cornwall – but mostly people are dotted all over the place”.

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14 June 2024 (ECML)

At their launch meeting for the new ECML project “AI for language education” in March 2024 team members agreed on an outline of their first deliverable, an online survey on the use of AI in language teaching. 

The aim of the questionnaire is to learn about your professional experience, beliefs and attitudes towards AI and its possible role in language teaching. 

The survey is now open and available in English, Estonian, French, German and Greek. Your views and insights would be appreciated!

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14 June 2024 (SCILT)

Box fresh and open for bookings! SCILT’s menu of CLPL group workshops for 2024-25.

Up-to-date and interactive, SCILT workshops for teachers are a great way for you and your colleagues to explore aspects of languages pedagogy with our experienced Professional Development Officers.

If you are the person in your department, school, cluster or local authority with a remit to source high quality subject specific professional learning for colleagues, then you will definitely be interested in our brand new menu of CLPL workshops.

For 2024-25, our carefully designed inputs cover a variety of topics related to the learning and teaching of languages:

Primary and Early Years

• First steps in teaching primary modern languages
• Valuing linguistic diversity in schools, with families
• Bringing the languages content to primary interdisciplinary learning
• Making assessment in primary languages active and accessible
• Give careers education a languages twist for your primary pupils

Secondary

• Teaching Sprints – Small change, big impact
• Social-Emotional learning for languages
• Talking and listening
• Reading and writing
• BYOW: Build your own workshop

We are always happy to accommodate bespoke CLP requests too. Whatever your colleagues need, just ask and we will design a workshop with tailored content, just for them. 

For more detail about the menu, and to book one or more workshop for the group of teachers that you support, see the professional learning request form.

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13 June 2024 (The Herald)

An awards ceremony celebrating the indigenous Scots Language will return this year for it’s fifth outing.

The Scots Language Awards 2024, organised by Hands up for Trad, launches today on the Scottish Poetry Library’s ‘Gie’s a Scots Poem Day’, in a bid to highlight the importance of the Scots language in daily life, education, business, arts, and culture.

For the first time, the awards ceremony will be hosted in Ayrshire at Cumnock Town Hall on Saturday 14 September, with the opportunity to nominate an individual or organisation available next month.

Celebrating figures who champion the Scots language, categories at the sixth annual Scots Language Awards will include Scots Business of the Year, Scots Writer of the Year, Scots Teacher of the Year and the widely regarded Janet Paisley Services to Scots Award.

As one of Scotland’s three indigenous languages, organisers say Scots is a growing tongue. The latest census saw the number of people in Scotland with some skills in Scots increase to over 46 per cent, with speakers spanning several dialects, including Doric, and stretching across regions from the Borders to Orkney.

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11 June 2024 (SCILT)

Suzanne Ritchie, Professional Development Officer at SCILT, is reaching out to German teachers to join a network for Teachers of German in Scotland (TOGS). This network aims to build a community to share experiences, practice and ideas, to highlight initiatives and potential partnerships, and to build support to enable German to grow in Scottish schools.

If you are a teacher of German in a primary or secondary school in Scotland (either currently teaching it or keen to introduce it) and you are interested in receiving more information in the months ahead, please add your name to the mailing list. Suzanne will be in touch with more information after the summer break. 

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10 June 2024 (SCILT)

Session 2023-24 saw the first national roll-out of Language Explorers Scotland (formerly known as Scotland's Languages Explorers Programme, SLEP), a flagship languages mentoring project run by SCILT in partnership with UCFLS. This mentoring programme was inspired by the success of similar mentoring programmes in the UK. Language Explorers Scotland aims to raise awareness amongst BGE secondary age learners of the far-reaching benefits of language learning by facilitating a short programme of mentoring sessions led by university students with lived experiences of language learning and multiculturalism.

Similar projects currently running in Wales and other parts of the UK have demonstrated that small group work with a student mentor can have a positive impact on learners in school, and lead to an increase in the number of learners continuing with languages into higher levels of study.

Language Explorers Scotland 2024-25 will run in partnership with universities across Scotland, including the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Stirling, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt University and the Open University. Interested schools can find out more about the mentoring programme and hear from last year’s student mentors on our Language Explorers Scotland webpage.

Please be aware that this programme runs online, therefore it is imperative that interested schools have an adequate technical set-up and internet connection to allow for remote interactions between mentees and mentors. Geographical proximity to a university is not necessary. Further information, including key dates, can be found on the programme webpage where registrations of interest will open in September and the live link will be published. Successful schools should anticipate hosting their languages mentoring sessions between mid-November and the end of February, in liaison with their mentors.

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5 June 2024 (Japan Foundation)

Following on from The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP) in February and March, we are delighted to announce the Japanese Film Festival Online will now also be held in the UK from 5 June until 3 July.

For the first two weeks of the festival, 18 Japanese films will be available for streaming, with 2 television drama series that were popular in Japan being made available for the festival's second half.

Visit the festival website for full programme details.

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