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Email: ptu@markallengroup.com Pick a challenge As the autumn mists swirl up around us and the leaves crunch satisfyingly underfoot, I want you to grab a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit (or a glass of wine if you’re lucky enough to be at home), close your eyes and think about the three learning experiences you find most challenging . For me, number one would have to be gymnastics. Think uncoordinated, multiply it by 100 and add a few noughts on the end for good measure. Number two would be speaking a foreign language. Understanding, reading and writing – fine. But try to speak it and my mouth dries up, my hands start to sweat and I am left a gibbering wreck in the corner. I lived in Japan for a while and was fortunate enough that my partner in crime at the time was oppositely flawed: he didn’t mind chatting away in Japanese to anyone... he just had no idea what they said back to him. We were the perfect comedy double act. Imagine the scenario: Japanese person politely asks question. Boyfriend, confused look on face, scratches head. Amy, coming to rescue Indiana Jones-style, translates question into English. Boyfriend, enlightened look on face, replies in (almost) perfect Japanese. Japanese person, confused look on face... I think part of our mutual struggle with language learning stems from the fact that neither of us were particularly exposed to it until age 11, by which time learning a language for the first time had become an unnatural process. Which, in fact, leads me (almost seamlessly!) into introducing this month’s MFL article (pages 34-35), where language coordinator Danielle Dion-Jones extols the virtues of exposing children to another language from their earliest years – when they are at an age to just have fun with it – and suggests some easy to implement ideas. My third learning ‘challenge’ is maths – I can get into calculation confusion and tangles with angles like you wouldn’t believe (while still being able to recite my times tables forwards and backwards). Imagine, then, what it must be like for those pupils where English is a second or third language. Imagine having to grapple with the vocabulary of maths, before you can even start to get your head around the other stuff. This month we have a special section dedicated to helping you support bilingual learners, with strategies for linking mathematical concepts and techniques to check understanding (pages 26-32). I don’t know about you, but all this talk of challenges is making me hungry. Another chocolate biscuit anyone? PTU Editor Amy Griggs Sales and Marketing Matt Govett Robbany Khan Graphic Designers Claire White Laura Spencer Art Director Richard Hamshere Circulation Director Sally Boettcher Circulation Manager Christine Hoskins Publisher Matt Govett