The London Schools Excellence Fund (LSEF), part-funded by the Department for Education, was established by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to focus on raising the quality of teaching in primary and secondary schools and improving pupils’ attainment in core subjects, including modern foreign languages.
The LSEF enabled the Network for Languages London team to work with primary and secondary schools across a number of London boroughs, between Spring 2014 and Autumn 2015. Modern foreign language teachers shared ideas and approaches to teaching languages with colleagues and had the opportunity to enhance their subject knowledge in languages and language teaching methodology. Find out more about the project.
The video case studies below provide a snapshot of the LSEF Project, Professional Language Networks. They capture the spirit of the project and demonstrate the effectiveness of good mentoring, the perennial willingness of our teachers to improve their own practice and the powerful effect of providing an opportunity for professional networking for teachers outside their own classroom. The written case studies have been created by LSEF teachers who wanted to share their findings and reflections with other colleagues.
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) proved to be a popular area of focus for some of the teachers participating in our LSEF project. Four teachers involved in the project developed some CLIL units of work for lower and upper Key Stage 2, on the following topics: Rainforests, Mexico and Peru in Spanish and the water cycle in French. These units of work, including lesson plans, PowerPoints and accompanying handouts are available to download for teachers who are interested in integrating languages across other areas of the curriculum, including geography, science and art.
With thanks to Ana Chapela, Noelia Rivas, Marily Troyano and Alana Williams for sharing their lesson plans and resources with other teachers and the LSEF project, for making this possible.
Please note that all photos and resources have been checked for copyright issues to the best of our knowledge and referenced accordingly.
The unit of work is made up of 6 lessons and accompanying resources. The unit is aimed at upper KS2. The Unit is Geography based. Each lesson is designed to last approximately an hour. The lessons are adaptable – activities can be omitted or the lessons can be split into 2 shorter lesson depending on individual […]
The unit of work is made up of 6 lessons and accompanying resources. The unit is aimed at years 3 and 4. The Unit is Geography and Science based. Each lesson is designed to last approximately an hour. The lessons are adaptable – activities can be omitted or the lessons can be split into 2 […]
Mexico CLIL Unit of Work The unit of work is made up of 6 lessons and accompanying resources. The unit is aimed at years 5 and 6. Each lesson is designed to last approximately an hour. The lessons are adaptable – activities can be omitted or the lessons can be split into 2 shorter lesson […]
The unit of work is made up of 6 lessons and accompanying resources. The unit is aimed at Upper Key Stage 2. The Unit is Geography and Science based. Each lesson is designed to last approximately an hour. The lessons are adaptable – activities can be omitted or the lessons can be split into 2 shorter […]
St Stephen’s C of E Primary School, Shepherd’s Bush Market, Hammersmith and Fulham How do you keep pupils’ interest in language learning right through upper KS2? The provision of Spanish lessons at St Stephen’s was largely provided by Alana Williams, the language specialist and reception class teacher. She began to realise that keeping her older […]
Chalkhill Primary School, Brent “We want our children to have the best chance in life, and a second language gives them another string to their bow.” (Rose Ashton, Headteacher, Chalkhill Primary School). Rose Ashton really believes in the benefits of learning a language from young. Pupils begin learning Spanish in reception at Chalkhill, but it’s […]
This video case study provides an overview of our London Schools Excellence Fund Project, “Professional Language Networks”, and the work we did with 170 teachers from over 85 schools across London and its impact and achievements.
Shaftesbury Park Primary School, Wandsworth “It is critical that children learn a different language, not just for the cognitive abilities it gives, but also for the social skillset it will enable the children to have.” (Bunmi Richards, Headteacher, Shaftesbury Park Primary School) Shaftesbury Park Primary School has started a new, exciting initiative to introduce a […]
A cross-curricular approach to teaching a unit on rainforests
Using a CLIL-approach to teach Year 6 about the Water Cycle in French.
Developing international links and understanding through the sharing of a range of cultural and linguistic activities with a school in Spain.
Reinforcing the learning of languages through the use of gestures and sign language.
A school-to-school collaborative project to embrace mother languages and to celebrate Mother Language International Day.
Is it possible for a non-specialist of the language to facilitate high quality language learning and progression across a mixed-ability group?
Planning to teach a geography- based unit on Peru for upper Key Stage 2, to inspire and motivate the children to learn Spanish.
Engaging parents and children to improve the languages curriculum on offer at school.
A CLIL-approach to teaching a unit on Mexico with Upper Key Stage 2.
How do you create cross-curricular links between a language and other subjects?
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