Supporting the new secondary curriculum for languages

This website was developed as part of the 2007-2010 DCSF-funded subject specific support programme for the new secondary curriculum. It includes official documentation about the curriculum as well as additional material developed by ALL and our Regional Subject Advisers. Many RSAs were practising teachers who have been able to share real examples of how they have developed their curriculum.

To get in touch, please email languages@all-nsc.org.uk. If you would like to discuss something by phone, give a phone number along with your message and we will get back to you.

LinkedUp award scheme

Resources made by hundreds of primary and secondary language teachers across England can be accessed on the
LinkedUp resource bank, hosted by the University of Southampton. The projects were developed by groups of teachers working together, and each project describes what they did and provides a selection of the resources that they developed for their pupils. All the materials are free to download and you can search for projects by key words, region, sector and theme.

What support for the new curriculum is still available?

The programme of free workshops led by RSAs ended in March 2010. However, there continue to be opportunities to find out about the new approaches to language learning that have been developed over the last few years:
- ALL runs workshops through ALL branches, networks, language days and other events - see http://www.all-languages.org.uk/events/our_events
- We can put individual schools in touch with an expert who can provide advice
- We will continue to keep this website live
Please get in touch via languages@all-nsc.org.uk if you would like to arrange a workshop for your own school, local authority or trainees. Our expert trainers have expertise in a wide range of aspects of the curriculum and we can put you in touch with the right person. 61% of all delegates attending workshops rated events as 'excellent' and 97% good or excellent.

The new Government

As you will be aware, the new Government is making significant changes to education policy and to the support that is available to schools. ALL is is closely following changes in policy and ensuring that the voice of language teachers is heard. We are continuing to provide support through our Languages Today magazine, branch and network events, the annual Language World conference and individual languages journals and events. Find out more...

General documents relating to the new curriculum

Before it closed down, QCDA published a booklet summarising their vision of how the secondary national curriculum should continue to be developed in schools, entitled From Implementation to Development (pdf, 2.39MB). This material can help to make the case to senior management for changes you would like to make in languages.

A reduced version of the National Curriculum website is still accessible.

How to sum up the languages curriculum in 8 minutes? This is how we did it at the CfBT cross-curriculum conferences - Compelling learning in languages (ppt, 1.8 MB)

Buy your copy of CURRICULUM NOW!
This publication from Rachel Hawkes has received glowing feedback from language teachers. Find out more and download an order form...

In 2009, Ofsted published an interesting report on the impact of the new curriculum.

The revised version of the Key Stage 3 Framework is no longer available online. It was designed to complement the new secondary curriculum and to help departments with their planning. Click on this link to download a pdf of all the objectives

Downloadable resource pack: key documents relating to the new curriculum can be downloaded to print off as a useful reference guide...

- What is a compelling learning experience? QCA explains...

- The PoS at a glance - download it here. The programme of study on one side of A4 for easy reference.

You can download the revised programme of study for languages here. The PoS applies to Key Stage 3 and came into force for Year 7 from September 2008. But it's not just about the programme of study. The new curriculum takes a holistic view of all secondary education including the 14-19 phase, and we recommend that language teachers get involved in discussion and planning at whole school level in order to ensure that languages play a full role in any new developments.

You can also download here the very useful big picture diagram of the new curriculum.