Devasted that Luljeta Nuzi has died after a long fight with cancer. An incredible, dynamic, fierce woman whose optimism and passion for equality for all, in education, as women, as members of refugee and global majority communities will remain an inspiration for those who met her. I first met Luljeta in 2009 when she came […]
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Championing community-led learning
NRCSE Executive Director has written two pieces for Languages Today – the magazine for MFL language teachers in primary and secondary. Together with the important support we are receiving from Baroness Coussins and colleagues on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Languages, we are seeing increasing awareness from mainstream of the role of community teachers and the importance of community-led learning of home and heritage languages.
The full article is available on the All-Languages website and our piece on creativity in community settings also Languages Today Extra: Rising to the challenge – community-led learning during the Covid19 pandemic – Association for Language Learning (all-languages.org.uk)
Discover more about the creativity and passion of community teachers on our project pages and in the lockdown delivery research we undertook in October 2020. With thanks to Dr Mon Partovi and Akhita Benjamin.
Updated Out-of-school settings guidance
The Department for Education out-of-school settings guidance has now been updated to provide more information on the position during the national lockdown.
The headlines are:
- For the duration of the national lockdown, out-of-school settings should only offer face-to-face provision for:
- children of critical workers, where it is reasonably necessary to support their parents or carers to work, seek work, attend a medical appointment, or undertake education or training
- vulnerable children and young people
- There is a list available outlining Children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings.
- Realistically, we know that the small numbers of children that are eligible to attend settings for face-to-face provision will mean that many out-of-school settings will likely need to move to online provision for the duration of the national lockdown.
- However, providers who offer face-to-face provision for the eligible children during the national lockdown should continue to follow the protective measures as outlined in our guidance. These are largely consistent with what you have already been doing, but given that there is likely to be fewer numbers of children in settings if they do choose to open, we have made it permissive for one member of staff to supervise up to two, small consistent groups of children if this is necessary.
The updated guidance documents are available at the usual links here: Protective measures for holiday and after-school clubs, and other out-of-school settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) & Guidance for parents and carers of children attending out-of-school settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
| Anne-Marie Mongan | Policy Adviser |Out-of-school Settings, Wraparound, and Integration UnitEmail: anne-marie.mongan@education.gov.ukgov.uk | Twitter | Facebook Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BT |
Spoken Language Statements
Schools/Colleges and other examination centres have been asked by Ofqual to obtain spoken language statements for private entrants or their own entrants for languages they do not teach. This webinar will support community/supplementary school teachers to provide the spoken language statement and will support mainstream schools to work with supplementary schools to enable them to provide the exam boards with a spoken language endorsement level.
The endorsement level can be provided by a supplementary school or community school, by a private tutor or by a speaker of the language who is not a relative or friend of the student who will act as Assessor.
Does the school/college need to arrange to get an endorsement for any private candidates and any of its own students being entered in a language for which it has no teacher?
Yes. It is the responsibility of the school/college to liaise with the supplementary/community school or private tutor or find a speaker of the language who is not a relative or friend of the student. Ofqual has stated that awarding organisations must require each centre to provide them with a, ‘spoken language statement’, confirming that it has taken reasonable steps to ensure there is an opportunity for an assessment of spoken language for every learner.
To support supplementary school/community teachers in the preparation of Spoken Language Statements and to advice you on how to ensure that your pupils receive a mark for their spoken language NRCSE has invited Pearson EdExcel and AQA exam boards to go through the requirements with you. We will also be joined by key community language champions from the British Council, APPG MFL, ASCL who are all keen to ensure that pupils entering a mother tongue/home/heritage language are not disadvantaged by the changes as they were in 2020.
This webinar is for teachers supporting pupils entered for GCSEs. We hope to include those entered for Cambridge International IGCSEs and O levels. Please check with us.
COVID-19 Update: Out-of-school settings in Tier 4
The government announced on Saturday December 19, that London and some areas of the south east and the East of England have moved into Local Restriction Tier 4 (Stay at Home).
The central local restriction tiers guidance has been updated to reflect what this means for childcare / supervised activities for children (i.e. out-of-school settings) in Tier 4.
Registered wraparound childcare and supervised activities for children, such as out-of-school settings, should only be accessed where the provision is necessary:
- to allow parents / carers to work, seek work, undertake education or training, or attend a medical appointment;
- for the purposes of respite care; or
- where the provision is being used by home educating parents as part of their existing arrangements for their child to receive a suitable full-time education.
The out-of-school settings guidance has been updated to reflect this position in more detail.
January Return
There was also an announcement about mass testing of secondary school students during the first week of term in January. Guidance on what this means for education and childcare settings, including out-of-school settings, was published on Friday December 18: Schools and childcare settings: return in January 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
To support with the mass testing effort, the government is asking that secondary school students receiving remote education from their school during the first week of term in January do not attend out-of-school settings during this time. This means that out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare can continue to operate for face-to-face provision between 4 and 11 January 2021 for children who are:
- home educated
- in early years settings
- in primary school
- in the secondary school-age cohorts eligible for full-time on-site provision – vulnerable children, children of critical workers and those in year 11 and 13
Those of you who are continuing to operate for face-to-face provision during this period should ensure that they make parents aware that their setting should only be accessed if their child is in one of the eligible groups outlined.
| Anne-Marie Mongan | Policy Adviser | Out-of-school Settings, Wraparound, and Integration Unit Email: anne-marie.mongan@education.gov.uk gov.uk | Twitter | Facebook Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BT |