Why not try to contact primary schools privately? It would be more fruitful than contacting Michael Gove! However I would not agree that the government talks about it but does nothing, as I'm about to go on a SSAT & SOAS Chinese teacher training  which is jointly funded by TDA and Hanban.

Good luck,

Qingwei


At 2011-10-21 06:12:23,"Marcus Reoch" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
And a commercial organisation can't help british kids learn chinese more effectively and cost effectively than a government that talks about it but does nothing?

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

From: Christopher Hilton <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mandarin Chinese Teaching <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:43:07 +0100
To: <[log in to unmask]>
ReplyTo: Mandarin Chinese Teaching <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: An email about Mandarin from the Department of Education

I never imagined that I would find myself defending Michael Gove, but on this occasion the response seems entirely reasonable and appropriate given the fact that you represent a commercial organization.
 
Christopher Hilton
 
From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Marcus Reoch
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Subject: An email about Mandarin from the Department of Education
 

Dear Colleagues,

I thought that this email needed to be forwarded to the forum.

 

On the back of Michael Gove’s (Secretary for Education) positive comments at the Manchester Conference about a foreign language becoming compulsory at primary level, I thought it wise to throw my hat into the ring in terms of providing free support and advice to them with regards to Mandarin. At the very least, I was hoping for a ‘thanks but we will contact you in due course’ email but instead I received this alarming response which really identifies that The Department is not really very serious about helping the UK to plug this language gap in our schools with a long-term solution.

 

Very disappointed to read this.

 

Marcus

 

From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 18 October 2011 13:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Case Reference 2011/0069375

 

Dear Mr Reoch

Thank you for your emails of 11 and 17 October addressed to the Secretary of State for Education, bringing to his attention your company which specialises in providing Mandarin Chinese teachers and resources to primary schools . As I am sure you will understand, due to the large volume of correspondence the Secretary of State receives, he cannot reply personally to each item. On this occasion, I have been asked to reply.

 

The Government agrees with you that good teaching of languages is very important.  We are working on the implications for the future of language teaching. 

 

We believe it improves the mind and helps pupils to understand the different cultures of people around the world and to understand the world in which they live. 

While we welcome any initiative that works to improve the quality of education for pupils, we do not believe it is the place of the Government or its Ministers to steer schools towards particular third party study materials or programmes, and we cannot therefore be seen to be endorsing or supporting one over another.  

 

I would suggest that the best way for you to win support for your work, is to talk to individual head teachers, who will be able to make informed judgements about what will work for their schools and their pupils. You can find contact details of all schools in England and Wales at: www.edubase.gov.uk

Please accept my good wishes with your future endeavours.

 

Yours sincerely

Leona Smith
Public Communications Unit
www.education.gov.uk

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As part of our commitment to improving the service we provide to our customers, we are interested in hearing your views and would welcome your comments via our website at www.education.gov.uk/pcusurvey

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2011/0069375. To contact the Department for Education, please visit www.education.gov.uk/contactus


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