Fish64
thefish64.bsky.social
Fish64
@thefish64.bsky.social
Former secondary school Head of MFL for 9 years. Now semi retired, but still teach! Broadly traditional - I support the idea of core knowledge. All views my own

https://fish64.wordpress.com/
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
I'm sure Anthi means well, but tbh, people were saying all this stuff in the 1980s when I was training. Going on about langs being needed for communication isn't enough, I'm afraid.
MFL: students need to see our subject as their ticket to the world
The key to boosting uptake of MFL in schools is creating the space for students to see that learning a language is enjoyable and focusing on cultural capital, says this teacher and leader
www.tes.com
April 16, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Dear HTs, HR and recruitment people. Please don't ask job applicants to fill in your own fiddly Word application forms with not enough space and then wonder why you can't recruit. Use TES Quick Apply!
tes.com/en-gb/for-scho…
https://tes.com/en-gb/for-scho…
April 12, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Maybe the L2 functional skills needed reform. I don't know much about it. But am I alone in feeling uneasy that an education leader is cheering a headline proclaiming no need for maths or English qualifications?
“UK apprentices will not need maths or English qualifications”: big, important and hugely welcome step, recognising literacy and numeracy skills within apprenticeship qualifications, rather than the dire GCSE resit treadmill: www.ft.com/content/65ba...
UK apprentices will not need maths or English qualifications
New rules aim to plug skills gaps in key industries and drive economic growth
www.ft.com
February 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
"They hold it in during the day. Their parents see the distress, but the school thinks they're fine." Naomi Fisher
Schools can't win. When children kick off at school it's because of the school's harsh rules. When they behave well at school, it's because they are holding it in.
February 2, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Labour are good at things like understanding that classroom teachers need rights and protection from overbearing managers. And reasonable payrises. But history shows they are easily seduced by whacky ideas on pedagogy and curriculum.
January 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Personalisation in education is automatically assumed to be a good thing. Here's a link to a blogpost which suggests it might not be. People are not simply a mass of data ready to be broken down.
fivetwelvethirteen.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/p...
Pushing Back Against Personalization
Dan Meyer wrote a great post a few days ago about the dangers of personalized learning, critical of an article on personalized learning in Educational Leadership. This paragraph captures the heart …
fivetwelvethirteen.wordpress.com
January 13, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Fish64
#WhyLearnGerman? According to an August 2024 survey, German is the most in-demand second language in UK job ads. A January 2024 study also showed it to be the highest earning. Post-Brexit, it is now much harder for UK businesses to hire native speakers from the EU. This could be your chance!
January 6, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The phrase "Happy New Year" is pretty standard in most countries. But German has so many variations. So when I greet my classes next week, I use "Prosit Neujahr!" Austrian style (Neujahrskonzert) What do other German teachers use? Frohes Neues Jahr? Guten Rutsch?
January 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
'Most high-quality research in instructed language contexts has been about the teaching of English to self-selecting learners in higher education."
Interesting read! www.lspjournal.com/post/balanci...
Balancing evidence-informed language policy and pragmatic considerations: Lessons from the MFL GCSE reforms in England
Emma Marsden and Rachel Hawkes | 17th December 2024 | Policy Papers • Policy change: • New curricula for GCSE French, German, and Spanish were released by the DfE in 2022, for first examination in ...
www.lspjournal.com
December 17, 2024 at 11:22 PM
fish64.wordpress.com/2024/11/21/m...

Some thoughts about mini whiteboards
fish64.wordpress.com
December 7, 2024 at 4:00 PM