On Wednesday I took part in the Babcock 4S conference at Horsley Park in Surrey. My presentation entitled I’m a Primary Language Teacher; help me out here! was well received and can be found below.

The main points were:

• primary language learning lays important foundations
• language learning is cyclical with topics being revisited but it is a continuum; it shouldn’t start again from scratch at Ks3.
• teaching primary languages can be lonely but there is support out there.
• PoS objectives need to be split into manageable chunks or stepping stones.
• pupils need to become increasingly independent; phonics and language learning skills from comparing and contrasting languages help this.
• it’s not just about vocabulary; grammar is needed (receptive and later productive) as cement otherwise it’s just a pile of bricks.
• intercultural understanding is vital.