Last Friday, 27th February, saw the UCL IOE Confucius Institute for Schools supporting Dartford Grammar’s networking event for GCSE and IB teachers. The morning began with addresses from John Oakes (Headteacher at Dartford Grammar), Katharine Carruthers (UCL IOE CI’s Director); Tomoki Akazawa (Deputy Director, The Japan Foundation) and Melissa Carr (Head of Non-European Languages at DGS).

After the addresses, everyone split into subject-specific groups, with the Chinese discussion chaired by Katharine Carruthers. This was an opportunity for teachers to raise concerns and share ideas about examinations, and teachers brought up many relevant topics such as the best use of limited classroom time, the best sources for additional material, how to use technology (and which to use), setting the correct level of challenge for the learners and how/when to introduce characters.

The discussion then moved onto GCSE-specific issues, and included a close look at the requirements of moderating the speaking and writing exams. This was followed after lunch with similar sessions for the IB Ab Initio and Standard examinations.

It was evident from discussions that teachers found great value in having the opportunity to get together and share ideas of best practice, so thank you to Dartford Grammar for organising the event!

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