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Welcome to this month’s round up!
I hope 2020 has started well for you. I will be honest with you: it has been a tough beginning of the year for me, for various reasons, but I am here and ever grateful for what I have and the work that I get to do!
New free resources from me in 2020: I am going to make some videos of French nursery rhymes! Please join me this Sunday as I record my 1st one (linked to Chandeleur, as is this Trotro story) live on my Facebook page . I will then save them all on my YouTube channel for ease of reference.
Do read through the opportunities below – there are some fabulous new ones that have just come up: a competition, a free course, (last?) chance to apply for Erasmus + and go on a fully-funded course… to name just a few! I do try to round them up so you don’t miss out on anything amazing.
Speak soon I hope!
Au revoir!
Nathalie

Another great Trotro story, this time to help us talk about Chandeleur on 2nd February or Mardi Gras on 25th! Click here to find out more about it and how I suggest you can use it! 
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Starting this Sunday 19th January, on a Sunday, at 7pm (GMT and term-time only), I will be doing a Facebook Live of a French nursery rhyme. Please check out my Facebook page here and join me by liking it and watching!
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This is my YouTube channel! I would love it if you would go over to have a look, and if you like it subscribe! This is where I already share short videos about books, and where I will post the nursery rhymes after my Facebook Lives.
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RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES

  • UK Lingua, the languages conference in Durham, will take place on 2nd and 3rd May 2020. Please save the date and consider submitting an abstract by 31st January: the theme this time is “Learning gain”. Click here for more details!
  • The ALL’s Language World 2020 conference, ALL working together, 
    will be in Manchester (Renaissance Manchester City Centre) on 13th and 14th March 2020 at delegate rates reduced from last year. This is great news! Click here for more details. I will be there and talking about developing intercultural understanding through picture books. The full programme will be available soon – look out for it!
  • Théâtre Sans Frontières are back with a brand new show available in French and in Spanish: The Animal Olympics Tokyo 2020. Their shows are always fab and I hope I will get to see this one too! Click here for more details.
  • There are some amazing prizes to be won in this competition run by the Institut Français in London. Do consider taking part with your pupils! http://bit.ly/FRENCHPOPVIDEOCOMPETITION2020
  • Do you know about the Research in Primary Languages website and work? It is worth checking out and signing up for their newsletter. They fight our corner! Click here for more details.
  • SUPL: Southampton University Primary Languages
    ICT & Computer Assisted Language Learning in the primary FL classroom
    Thursday 13th February 2020 1.30-4.30pm
    Come and join us at this FREE workshop to find out more about technology and language learning
    Our guest speaker is Dr Rowena Kasprowicz from the University of Reading.  Rowena is a research/subject specialist at the National Centre for Excellence for Languages Pedagogy and has worked with the Digital Creativity Labs on Gaming Grammar – a digital game designed to children learning French grammar.
    This workshop will take place at Avenue Campus, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ.  Lunch and afternoon tea are included.  Numbers are limited.  Parking and a contribution to cover costs are available.
    We can offer all attendees free access to French and Spanish materials including soundfiles.  You will also be encouraged to develop your classroom research skills, supported by University researchers.
    For more information or to book a place, please email Alison Porter.
    Dr Alison Porter
    Lecturer in Applied Linguistics
    Modern Languages and Linguistics
    Faculty of Arts & Humanities
    University of Southampton, Modern Languages & Linguistics, SO17 1BJ, UK.
    Staff Profile  http://www.southampton.ac.uk/ml/about/staff/aporter.page
    Research Centre  http://www.southampton.ac.uk/cllear/
  • ERASMUS + funding – this could be your last chance!!
As you may know, the Erasmus+ 2020 Call is now open for applications. You can apply for one or more of the following funding streams for schools:
School Education Staff Mobility (Key Action 101):
Application deadline – 5 February 2020 at 11am (UK time)
School staff can teach, train or job shadow abroad – to develop their professional practice, build relationships with international peers and gain fresh ideas.
School Exchange Partnerships (Key Action 229):
Application deadline – 24 March 2020 at 11am (UK time)
Pupils and students can take part in international exchanges and study experiences, and staff can do training and teaching assignments overseas – to develop new skills, get inspired and gain vital international experience.
Strategic Partnerships for School Education (Key Action 201):
Application deadline – 24 March 2020 at 11am (UK time)
Schools can collaborate with international partners – to drive innovation, share best practice, and offer new opportunities to young people.The funding is open to UK schools and colleges providing general, vocational or technical education to pupils aged 3 – 18 years. Local/regional authorities, school coordination bodies and consortia can also apply. Schools can also apply for additional funding to support pupils and staff with special needs.
Please find out more and apply for Erasmus+ schools funding now.
Application support and useful information
Looking for partner schools and colleges for your Erasmus+ projects? Visit eTwinning, the free online European community for schools and FE/VET colleges. It’s also worth visiting the School Education Gateway for thousands of professional development courses, covering school leadership, mental health, languages, STEM, digital learning and much more.
Read the latest information on Erasmus+ and Brexit.You can access application forms and guidance on the Application Resources webpage under the ‘schools’ tab.
Any questions? Please contact the Erasmus+ UK National Agency at: erasmusplus.enquiries@britishcouncil.org.
Do remember that organisations like Claro GB can help with oyur application and organise your trip for you!
Other Erasmus + opportunity:
Immersion courses in France, Spain and Germany for members of  The Association for Language Learning (ALL)  “Exploring and Developing CLIL”  2020 – 2021
LFEE Europe has been been running immersion courses in Europe under the Erasmus+ programme since 2002. ALL is the membership association for Language teaching professionals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
ALL and LFEE Europe have been working together on a 2 year project called ELAPSE (Embedding Languages Across the Primary and Secondary Education).  ELAPSE aims to develop primary and secondary language teachers’ awareness of the CLIL approach which is especially relevant in the current context if developing ambitious curricular aspirations. Practical resources and a good practice guide are being developed transnationally in French, German, Spanish and English. The focus is on the transition between Primary and Secondary phases.
To complement our work with the ELAPSE project, we propose to offer a training programme in France, Germany and Spain. This one week course is available to Primary and Secondary teachers and aims to:
● Explore strategies for extending learners’ language skills through Interdisciplinary activities ● Develop new skills for language teaching and transferability across subject area ● Explore the CLIL approach and see how to Plan a CLIL lesson ● Join in practical CLIL workshops ● Develop and consolidate participants’ knowledge of French / Spanish / German  ● Increase participants’ cultural awareness of France/Spain/Germany ● Explore efficient and innovative use of ICT tools ● See CLIL in action during a possible school visit (depending on time of year and availability of our partners)
Course dates  • Saturday 24 – Saturday 31 October 2020, Montpellier, France. • Saturday 10 – Saturday 17 April 2021, Malaga, Spain and Berlin, Germany. • Saturday 17 – Saturday 24 July 2021, Montpellier, France and Malaga, Spain.
Funding for all our courses is available through the European Union Erasmus+ Programme and covers the cost of the tuition fee, accommodation, subsistence and travel costs.  ALL will be applying for Erasmus+ funding on behalf of all applicants.
Please contact LFEE Europe by Friday 24 January 2020 to pre-register for the course dates of your choice.  Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.
Roslynn Main LFEE Europe Email:  immersions@lfee.net Tel: +44 (0)131 343 2222