Please see the message below from ALL’s Essex and East Anglia Branch:
On May 8th we held our AGM. Once again, thanks to our committee member, Graeme Bruce, Woodbridge School allowed us to use their beautiful Abbey School premises and provided a most delicious lunch.
There were three fantastic speakers namely Eva Lamb, (Chair, South Yorkshire ALL and Language College Director of King Edward VII School), Rachel Hawkes (Regional Subject Advisor for the New Secondary Language Curriculum) and Bernardette Holmes (Regional Centre Manager for Links in Languages in the East of England. They gave talks on alternative certification to GCSEs, the new speaking exam for GCSE and Plurilingualism under the banner of Keeping Languages Alive – the new challenges of 14 – 19 sector.
During lunchtime there was a presentation of “Activihub” by Peter Hughes of Linguascope. The day was so successful that delegates went away enthused, including the headteacher of Woodbridge School, who attended the event.
During the spring, we staged once more our highly acclaimed annual competition ‘Have Your Say’. Every year the number of eager participants swells. This year no fewer than 700 pupils from schools throughout the region took part. The competition final took place at the Thomas Lord Audley School, which has become our annual venue. There were 270 finalists (135 pairs) from years 7; 8; 9; 10; competing in each of three languages: French; German; Spanish. The winners were presented with trophies by Bernadette Holmes. If you would like details of the competition format for your own branch, contact Val Pratt or Lucia Verona, who organised the event on [email protected].