NZAFT Initiatives - 2010

1. The Mark Williams Awards

The NZAFT is proud to announce the creation for 2010 of the Mark Williams Awards.
The Mark Williams Award is for a teacher led project which focus is on enhancing students' French learning experience.

Rules and Criteria for the Mark Williams Award for 2010:
1.  Applicants for one of six Mark Williams Awards must be a paid member of the NZAFT, paid up for 2010
2.  Application for an award must be made in writing to the President, Lesley PARRIS. Application forms are available by downloading a copy from this page.
3.  Applications for an award must state:
• Name and address and contact details
• Current position and designation
• Description of the student focused project for which the Award is applied for
• Reason for applying for funds
• The maximum amount requested is a maximum of $ 200
• Proposed ways of sharing benefits to colleagues.
4. The selection will be made from applicants who meet all the requirements in their application.  The decision will be based on the following criteria:
. the project must benefit more than one student
. the project must be carried out during the 2010 school year
. adequate planning is demonstrated
5.  Members receiving an award must supply NZAFT Executive with a short written report of the project, suitable for publishing in the NZAFT section of www.french.ac.nz.
6.  Disbursement of the award will be made upon reception of the relevant receipts and of the short written report upon project completion.
7.  The award may be granted for a project within or beyond New Zealand.
Applications must reach the President, Lesley PARRIS by July 2nd 2010 (end of term 2)
Send it by post to Lesley PARRIS, 81 Hill Road RD2 NAPIER or by email 


"This award is given in honour of Mark Williams.

Mark taught French for many years at Otumoetai College, Tauranga. He was a dedicated teacher and complete Francophile and he inspired both teachers and colleagues alike. His ability as a teacher, his willingness to share, and his total commitment to the profession and to his students made him a great teacher of French.
It is difficult to estimate how many lives he touched with his love of the French language and all things French. There is no doubt that there are many, many people out there today who have gone on to share this love thanks to his inspiration.

This award recognizes Mark, his work and his great contribution to French teaching in New Zealand." 

Thank you to Shirley Bain (past NZAFT President) for providing these kind words in Mark's memory.

2. NZAFT Scholarships for 2010

The NZAFT is offering scholarships to 10 of its members to attend the NZALT biennial conference "Scaling remarkable linguistic heights" CULTURE CURRICULUM CREATIVITY to be held in July 2010
in Queenstown.

The NZAFT will reimburse $500 towards attendance costs (conference registration- travel – accomodation) for 10 French teachers in New Zealand.

The teachers wishing to apply for this scholarship must fill in an Application form and:
➢ must be a current or 2010 NZAFT member.
➢ must be currently teaching French in New Zealand.
➢ must provide the NZAFT treasurer with a copy of their paid conference registration and proof of transport/accomodation bookings. Reimbursement can only take place upon receipt of these documents.
➢ agree to submit in writing a summary of a workshop they attended at the Conference and a practical teaching resource to be published on www.french.ac.nz by 31st August 2010 (See description and application form below for details)

In order to apply for this scholarship, applicants must fill in the application form (see elow) and submit it to NZAFT president Lesley Parris by April 5th 2010.

NZAFT Initiatives - 2009

1- NZAFT- French Embassy Competition 2009:  I love French!
ran term 2 2009 and was very successful indeed!
Thank you for sending on so many great entries. Prizes included 3 Ipods Nano, donated by the NZAFT, and many DVDs, CDs and books donated by the French Embassy.
View all the entries that you could possibly use while promoting French in your school at About> Competition 2009

2- NZAFT SCHOLARSHIP 2009
The NZAFT offered a scholarship to a New Zealand teacher of French to attend the AFMLTA Biennial Conference in Sydney between July 9-12 2009.
The AFMLTA (Australian Federation of Modern Languages Teachers Associations) is the equivalent to the NZALT in Australia.  The theme of the 2009 Conference was" Dialogue, discourse, diversity!". The NZAFT covered the cost of flights, accommodation and conference registration for one French teacher in New Zealand.
The NZAFT is proud to announce the awardee for the 2009 Scholarship is Jo RITTEY (Rangiruru College).

CSD: New Curriculum Implementation

    Terms 2 and 3 2009

The Curriculum Support Days, organised by the PPTA, aim to provide samples and examples to show teachers how to bring together the Achievement Objectives and Key Competencies, while taking into account other aspects of the NZC (eg vision, principles etc.), in the planning of their Units of Work.  Read below the Newsletters published by the  PPTA on Curriculum Support days, and find the suggested timetable for your local Support Day. For sample materials and teaching resources, as well as a range of relevant support documents, go to the Curriculum section of this site.

Subject Associations Forum 16-17 April 2009 Wellington.

Lesley, Philippa and Pascale attended the Subject Associations Forum.  This Forum, organised by the PPTA,  gathered together over 50 teachers representing a large range of Subject Associations. It provided a range of very good opportunities: to hear how the Ministry sees a building of professional partnership with teachers via the Subject Associations, to understand how other SA are organised and what their strengths and limitations are and to network for the benefits of our members.

                  
If you are interested in finding out what the 2 days involved, and in reading the introductions to both Lesley's and Pascale's presentations, have a look at the Programme below!

SCALEs Project (Standards Review for Learning Languages)

Go to the NZALT website to read the background to the project, discover the Draft Matrix for Learning Languages and access the Feedback Questionnaire.  Deadline for completion of the Questionnaire is January 20, 2009.

The NZALT, under the leadership of Adèle Scott and Gunhild Litwin, negotiated a contract which allowed for one member of each language association to form part of the advisory group to look at second language standards.  Sue Pommarède represented the NZAFT as she worked on the SCALEs Project.   Please read her report below.

Read below what the NZAFT Listserve members are writing about the Draft Matrix

The first document is a roll of entries started on Dec 5th 2008 when the Draft Matrix was initially published.

The second document, started June 16th 2009, is an other roll of entries. It consists of the feedback on the Matrix, the Draft L 1 Standards, and on the conditions of Assessment, published by subscribers on the NZAFT Listserve.