Good morning,

This week’s episode takes us inside Shaftesbury Park Primary School to explore what bilingual education looks like in practice. I’m joined by Bunmi Richards, Alastair Anderson and James Cousins to discuss the school’s French bilingual stream, but the conversation is about much more than language learning.

What makes the episode so interesting is that Shaftesbury Park’s approach is clearly rooted in the school’s values. The curriculum did not come first. The vision came first: a local school with a global perspective.

We talk about how French is introduced through oracy in the early years, how the model develops as students move through the school, how language is taught through meaningful curriculum contexts, and why cultural learning, parental communication, staffing, planning and governance all matter.

We also explore some of the tensions: misconceptions about bilingualism, the challenge of sustaining an ambitious model over time, and the difficulty of ensuring that students’ language development continues once they move into secondary education.

The episode is called Vision Into Practice: How Shaftesbury Park Built a Bilingual Curriculum and is available now via the links below and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hope you enjoy!

Shaftesbury Park Primary School Contact

DEFL Qualification

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

Finally, tickets are available for TDaPE Conference Online.

This brings together a brilliant collection of on-demand workshop sessions from across the world of education, featuring thoughtful, practical and evidence-informed professional development that you can access in your own time.

Every ticket gives you access to the full collection of sessions, and all funds will be donated to Velindre Cancer Centre, a cause that means a great deal to many of us in the TDaPE community.

So, if you are looking for meaningful professional development, want to hear from a range of brilliant educators, and would like to support an excellent cause at the same time, this is a lovely way to do all three.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

TDaPE Online Eventbrite

TDaPE Online Workshops

A huge thank you to everyone who shared last week’s episode. It really does help the podcast reach more thoughtful primary teachers and leaders. If there’s someone you know who cares deeply about teaching, learning or leadership, I’d be very grateful if you passed the episode on.

That’s all from me this week. I’d love to know what you made of it, so do leave a comment wherever you listen, or simply hit reply and share your thoughts.

Until next time, thanks for listening.