Case studies

Tomlinscote School

Developing cross-curricular language through partnership

Tomlinscote School and Sixth Form College, Camberley, Surrey and Collège Jules Valles, Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute Loire
Tomlinscote School and Sixth Form College in Surrey is one of several schools leading the growth of interest in CLIL (curriculum and language integrated learning) in the UK. The school gained experience in teaching other curriculum subjects in foreign languages as part of a government-funded CLIL project, and is now continuing the initiative through its Inter-Action partnership with Collège Jules Valles.
Staff from Tomlinscote met their colleagues from Collège Jules Valles at the annual Inter-Action partnership conference. They established positive relationships, which have helped the project grow and develop. The college's section europeenne has provided the perfect context in which to develop CLIL.
Communication
The two schools are planning to communicate via video conference, though contact between students has so far generally been by letter - around 90 Tomlinscote students have taken part.
They write one part of the letter in French, using grammar and vocabulary that has recently been taught in class, and one part in English, talking about whatever they want. Students have been very keen and enthusiastic about writing letters to their French partners. They find that it makes their learning real, and helps them understand the level of accuracy required to actually communicate effectively. The regular exchange of letters has definitely had a positive impact on student motivation and performance.
French across the curriculum
In the letters the students often write about the other curriculum subjects that they are learning in French. The partnership with Collège Jules Valles has been a rich source of resources for this approach.
History was the first subject to be taught in another language at Tomlinscote School; it has now been followed by other subjects, including science and geography.
Work students have done in history using French has been collated on a blog, which is shared with students at Collège Jules Valles: http://mfltomlinscotesurrey.blogspot.com
CLIL has worked well at Tomlinscote School, but there are several issues to consider when introducing this sort of teaching into the curriculum.
The support of colleagues across departments, particularly senior management, is important. Staff also need time to work together on planning and resources, and schools need to find teachers with the appropriate skills and knowledge if CLIL is to be successful.