1. All images © Mat Wright www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants 1 Getting the most from your Language Assistant experience

2. Agenda Part 1: Webinar basics Part 2: Role of the mentor and supporting the assistant Q & A Part 3: Using a Language Assistant in the language classroom and beyond Part 4: Other British Council opportunities Q & A www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

3. PART 1: WEBINAR BASICS www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

4. This is the chat facility where you can ask questions and talk to other participants Write your message in the text box and hit enter Choose who you want to write a message to

5. PART 2: THE ROLE OF THE MENTOR TEACHER AND SUPPORTING THE ASSISTANT www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

6. Role of Mentor Teacher  Professional  Pastoral  Arrival and settling in  On-going monitoring and support  Regular meetings  Give feedback to the Language Assistant  Give feedback to British Council  End of year report www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

7. Top tips and best practice for mentor teachers  Email follow-ups to face-to-face discussions  Establish communication process  Monitoring progress - Language Assistant/s log/ diary www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

8. Supporting the assistant BEFORE their arrival  Sharing arrangements  Administration/ Paperwork  Offer letter / Confirmation of appointment  Payments – Starter Declaration and tax cover letter (Double Taxation Letter)  Police checks  Accommodation advice  School system and curriculum  Maintain contact and build relationships Please see: http://www.britishcouncil.org/language-assistants/employ/support-and- next-stepshttp://www.britishcouncil.org/language-assistants/employ/support-and- next-steps

9. Supporting the assistant: Initial weeks  Observation  Class lists/ staff lists/ map of school  School policies Child protection / Internet/ health and safety / absence  Systems and equipment  Timetable  Code of conduct  Statement of employment www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

10. Supporting the assistant AFTER their arrival – Integration into the school www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants Top tips:  Welcomes!  Introductions  Discuss expectations and role  Opportunities to involve them in  school trips/ events/ concerts/ staff social activities  extracurricular life of the school

11. Supporting the assistant: Integration into the community  Register with doctor and open a bank account  Local area advice  Clubs/ libraries/ churches/ sports/ events  Mobile phones  Internet access  Other Language Assistant/s in the area? www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

12. Problem handling  Best dealt with quickly and at the source  Open discussion  Use code of conduct  Use performance management  Disciplinary process  Contact with British Council  Language Assistant/s line of referral www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

13. Support for Language Assistants  Local authority training  Cultural institutes training and support e.g. Institut Français, Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes, Consejería de Educación, Institute of Education (China)  British Council inductions  British Council Information Booklet for Language Assistants in the UK coming soon!  Language Assistants Team at the British Council www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

14. PART 3: USING YOUR LANGUAGE ASSISTANT IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

15. What is a Language Assistant?  Model of authentic pronunciation, intonation and usage of the language pupils are learning  A ‘living’ cultural reference point, with a unique set of experiences, skills, and interests  Pivotal figure to help broaden the school’s cultural provision and perspective www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

16. How a Language Assistant can support the school’s modern languages programme  Develop and improve o accuracy of pupils’ use of the target language o pupils’ self-confidence in the target language, o pupils’ engagement in language lessons  Increase capacity to address the departmental priorities e.g. o teachers’ subject knowledge (language and culture) o uptake of language classes at the non-compulsory stag e www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

17. How a Language Assistant can benefit the whole school  Raise the profile of language and culture at all stages in the school  Build capacity to strengthen the language element of the curriculum  Broaden the international perspective of the school www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

18. Language Assistant role  Work in a variety of contexts including whole classes (under teacher supervision), with small groups or individual pupils  Model authentic pronunciation, intonation and usage of the language pupils are learning  Revise new vocabulary or grammar points covered in a particular lesson in the form of a game or other type of interactive activity  Prepare pupils in senior classes for speaking assessments  Prepare resources for teaching www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

19. Getting the most from your Language Assistant/s experience  Prepare pupils for local or national language-based competitions  Support senior pupils in promoting language learning to younger age groups  Establish or reinforce partnership links with another country (e.g. through parcel or video exchanges)  Contribute to school gaining International School AwardInternational School Award  Use the resources and support from the cultural institutes www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

20. Getting the best out of your Language Assistant Consider a project approach  Giving them the opportunity to plan activities for a longer-term/ on-going project reduces the need for teachers to plan their input on such a frequent basis  Games and other ‘fun’ activities do create a buzz in the language classroom but do not necessarily change pupils’ underlying views about the role of languages in today’s global society  By harnessing the Language Assistant’s unique set of knowledge, interests, and skills and channelling them into a project has a greater chance of helping pupils to recognise the importance of language learning www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

21. Project Successes Get Language Assistants and students to apply language skills in new contexts:  subtitling  radio broadcasting  drama competition  travel guidebook  song-writing  multilingual magazine  For more examples please see: www.britishcouncil.org/scotland- education-Language Assistant/s-school-project-initiative-case- studies.htm www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

22. Helping the Language Assistant implement a project successfully  Find out about the Language Assistants strengths (knowledge of their own and other countries, interests and skills in other subjects)  Discuss ways of incorporating them as an independent slot in the overall scheme of work (i.e. as part of a weekly lesson)  Provide lots of advice and encouragement at the start but let the language assistant take the lead in moving things forward www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

23. PART 4: OTHER BRITISH COUNCIL OPPORTUNITIES www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm

24. Other British Council opportunities  eTwinning eTwinning  SchoolsOnline  Connecting Classrooms www.britishcouncil.org/schools/language-assistants

25. Thank you for your attendance and participation! www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants Assistants.uk@britishcouncil.org www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants-uk-schools-and-authorities.htm