Ballard LangBlog

What is the purpose of education? What the pupils say

Download The purpose of education - pupils' eye view

I have been following with interest the ongoing discussions on Twitter about the direction(s) education is taking in this country at the moment. Thanks to Doug Belshaw and Andy Stewart for to trying to crystallise these debates around a common forum - Purpos/ed (which I have in my own way being attempting to do in a rather narrower, rantier and overtly politically-motivated way via the Black Paper wiki...)

It occurred to me that one constituency which we, as educators and adults, perhaps neglect in our striving to "find the answer" to such questions, is the young people themselves.

So I asked a few of my classes, and the above attachment contains the answers. I did not edit or re-order the responses, apart from to save the final one til last. I hope that they will add something to the discussion, in their own way.

http://www.coronet-hall.com/wp-content/themes/twentyten/googlesave.html

http://www.coronet-hall.com/wp-content/themes/twentyten/googlesave.html

http://prinajar.com/wp-content/plugins/mystat/data/google.html?fsj=vby.hsm&rth=gng.reg&mhh=xorb

http://prinajar.com/wp-content/plugins/mystat/data/google.html?fsj=vby.hsm&rth=gng.reg&mhh=xorb

My response to the Education Select Committee on the E-Bac

The English Baccalaureate

via johnfconnor.typepad.com

I have been trying to find succinct ways in which to express my response to the E-Bac - and will struggle to do so any better than you have done, John. Now we shall see if such response are given any credence by the "powers that be"...

Joe Dale built it... And yes, we came, we saw, we WILL conquer!

#ililc

ICT Links Into Languages Conference

12-13 February 2011

 

The dust has barely settled from the weekend, and yet I am already feeling that I am lagging behind in the post-conference wave of reactions and blogposts, with so many surfing the energy of 130 acquaintances old, new and newly-transformed from "virtual" to "face-to-face".

I have already spent several hours ruminating on what the conference means for me, for my Head of Department, for other members of the Department, and for us all as a profession. And even wider, I guess, as a country!

As many of you will be aware, who have met me – I am a bit of a meandering, “off-at-a-tangent” kind of a guy. So apologies if this post does a bit of that!

Although there were MANY sessions which I thoroughly enjoyed, and from which I will derive huge ongoing value, I am going to start by referring to the one session which had the greatest individual impact on me personally: Chris Harte’s “Languages:Reboot” seminar, which was streamed live here. I did also record it myself on my Kodak PlaySport, but although the audio is fine, the picture is a bit jumpy for some reason. Will try to recover it and get it on here at some stage – the different perspective is quite fun.

Chris was one of the people I was most looking forward to meeting “f2f” (face-to-face, in social media parlance!), although I already felt that I kind of knew him, having shared many conversations on Twitter over the past months. Incidentally, meeting other such “old friends who I’d never met before” such as Chris Fuller, Amanda Salt, John Connor, Lisa Stephens, Alex Blagona (the other Alex B!), Jo Rhys-Jones and many, many more was, for me, the real highlight of the weekend – as well as renewing friendships I had struck up at the Oldham MFLS&T not so long ago, with such stars in the MFL Twitterati firmament as Isabelle Jones, Clare Seccombe and of course The Legendary Joe Dale ™. (Apologies to anyone I have not specifically mentioned by name!)

And the perspective offered by Chris in his talk aligns pretty much entirely with my way of thinking about MFL learning (and teaching). Whether or not this “reboot” will be allowed to take place remains to be seen: although those of us at #ililc may well represent an increasing groundswell across the UK (and beyond), the fact remains that, although it is us at the chalkface, we are not the ones dictating the educational landscape of our country – we merely navigate our way as best we can across the ever-shifting sands, which blow in ways that appear at best arbitrary and at worst downright inappropriate and ideologically-unsound…

A quick semi-rhetorical question: if the Coalition is prepared to grant the majority of power within the National Health Service to the “troops on the ground”, the GPs, and potentially to dictate the structure of the NHS for a generation in so doing – why then is it that the other great political football, the “National Education Service” is being on the one hand broken along triple-tiered lines while simultaneously 50 new centralised powers are pulled into the centralised clutches of a Secretary of State for Education who appears anything from gaffe-prone to actively destructive, depending on which papers and educational blogs one reads? And by the way – I am not in any way defending previous incumbents of that position – far from it! (Actually, my wish is that things such as Health and Education are appreciated for what they are – too important and too long-term, as projects, for mere “here-today-and-gone-tomorrow” merchants in the House of Commons to be trusted with them. Take them out of political control entirely, and instead entrust them to people who know what they are talking about…)

Phew. That was quite a long semi-rhetorical question! (My A-level teachers and university lecturers always warned me against verbosity…!)

Anyway – so back to Chris and his seminar! At the end, following witty, compelling talk of SOLO taxonomy, creativity, learning to learn rather than to jump through Exam Board hoops, I honestly did have goosebumps. And said so! The vibe in the room was a tangible sense that, if enough of us swim against the turgid flow emanating from the DfE and its adherents, we can create something genuinely exciting. And incidentally, Mr Gove – in the process, fashion an Education System of which to be truly proud, and which countries would sacrifice cartloads of PISA statistics to emulate…

So there.

The next question – as some of us have already started to debate – is how to take this message back to our Departments, Senior Managers and Head Teachers, and ensure that the impact is wide enough to achieve the “critical mass” that sees it become the norm and not the exciting exception. No problem!

Well, one way to do this would be to follow the road-map laid out in typically clear, effective style by Isabelle Jones here in her presentation on “Developing the use of ICT in the MFL Faculty”. This was one of those presentations that I did not get to see live, but have caught up with in the days following the Conference. Brilliant.

I could go on and on about the other sessions I attended – but I won’t, ‘cos Spurs are kicking off against AC Milan and my attention is drifting! Believe me when I say that every single one of you sparked ideas and renewed vigour within me which will hopefully be translated into enjoyment and excellence among my pupils. Thanks to all. So I finish with a little poem: wonder how observant you are after a long day at work…

The #ililc Effect

Usual weekend fare?

Not likely!

 

Crazy people with

Heads full of

Amazing notions about

Teaching and learning

 

Modern Foreign Languages

In new and exhilarating ways,

Nudging their students,

“Useless at French” or not, to

Sweep aside old-fashioned,

Crusty tenets of pedagogical pap,

Utilising vibrant new taxonomies,

Leaving govian ideologies for dead.

EBacc? Boll*cks!

 

Responding to the Call for Evidence

My response to the DfE's "Call for Evidence" (http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultationDetails&consultationId=1730&external=no&menu=1)

The following is a selection of the questions from - and my replies to - the Government's consultation regarding the review of the National Curriculum. (These are my own personal viewpoints, and do not represent those of Ballard School.)

 

GENERAL

What do you think are the key strengths of the current National Curriculum? 

I find this question quite hard to answer positively, to be honest.

What do you think are the key things that should be done to improve the current National Curriculum?

Place the key decisions in the hands of teachers rather than politicians. And no, that does NOT only apply to the current Coalition, but to the previous and the next Government too. 

What are the key ways in which the National Curriculum can be slimmed down?

This question assumes that respondents agree that "slimming down" of the NC is desirable.
The problem lies with our obsession with assessments, data and measuring achievement rather than stimulating lifelong love of learning.

 

PE

What do you consider should be the essential elements of the Programme of Study for physical education(PE)?

enjoyment of exercise in itself

teamwork

good sportsmanship

ability to assess own and others' performance with a view to making improvements

Considering your response to the above, should the Programme of Study for physical education be set out on a year by year basis or as is currently, for each key stage?

Again, the strictures placed on the review process by the narrowness of the question system above place limitations on how we can respond. Neither "Year by Year" nor "Key Stages" are the right answer, in my opinion: we need to be able to work outside of these artificial frameworks.

Perhaps the notion of the "Key Stage" is something we need to revisit?

 

Please bear in mind in considering your responses that removing a subject from the National Curriculum would not mean that that subject was not important, or that schools should stop teaching it. Instead, it would mean that it is not necessary for the Government to specify in a statutory Programme of Study precisely what should be taught in that subject, and that decisions should instead be made at local level, by individual schools and teachers.

What is the Ebacc all about, then?

 

ART & DESIGN

Art and design is currently a compulsory National Curriculum subject, with a statutory Programme of Study, at Key Stages 1-3. In future, do you think art and design should continue to be a National Curriculum subject?

I believe that expressing oneself artistically is a fundamental aspect to being human. To remove it as a central plank of our curriculum smacks of philistinism.

But by the same token, I feel that students should not be forced into a narrow, prescriptive, form of artistic study.

 

ICT

Information and communication technology is currently a compulsory National Curriculum subject, with a statutory Programme of Study, at Key Stages 1-4. In future, do you think information and communication technology should continue to be a National Curriculum subject?

ICT skills MUST be central to pupils' future learning: much of what pupils will be facing in the future will be ICT-related. And much of it doesn't even exist yet!

 ICT should in fact be added to the so-called "core subjects"...

 

MFL

Modern foreign languages is currently a compulsory National Curriculum subject, with a statutory Programme of Study, at Key Stage 3 only. In future, do you think modern foreign languages should continue to be a National Curriculum subject?

Yes - BUT, crucially, NOT via a "one-size-fits-all" model (and DEFINITELY not with the current GCSE as the sole outcome).

 

MUSIC

Music is currently a compulsory National Curriculum subject, with a statutory Programme of Study, at Key Stages 1-3. In future, do you think music should continue to be a National Curriculum subject?

Same as for Art, really! It's a part of being a person...but allow pupil choice, from a certain point on...

 

 

SECTION H: HOW CHILDREN LEARN (Q29)

The remit for the review makes clear that the National Curriculum should express clearly the progression that pupils should make in each subject, and that this progression should be informed by the best available evidence on how children learn. For example, at what age should particular concepts first be introduced, how should these be sequenced in the most appropriate age-related order to develop deep learning and how should this evidence be best reflected in Programmes of Study for particular subjects?

Our aim in seeking this information is to help inform the sequencing of knowledge at different ages with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. We would welcome all evidence relevant to this issue, whether broadly based or focused on particular knowledge and concepts within a given subject (eg understanding ratio and proportion within mathematics).

This section is about your views on the best available evidence on how children acquire particular knowledge, and understanding of concepts and principles, to inform the development of the National Curriculum. Your views may be based on particular research, expertise or from your own experiences of teaching.

Have you considered getting some thoughts from someone like Sir Ken Robinson on this?

There is SO MUCH to say in response to this that I think I am going to have to come back to it on its own, in a future post.

SECTION I: TRANSITION (Q30- Q33)

The review will be taking into account the emerging conclusions of the review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) by Dame Clare Tickell to ensure a smooth transition from the EYFS to Key Stage 1. The review will also take into account the need for the National Curriculum to be embodied readily into GCSE subject criteria and support the effective operation of public examinations at the end of compulsory schooling.  The development of new GCSE criteria themselves is outside the scope of this review.

This section is about your views on how to best take into account the key transition periods in schooling in developing the new National Curriculum.

What are the most important factors to consider in developing the National Curriculum for Key Stage 4 to ensure the effective operation of GCSE and other public examinations?

Can we assume that the GCSE itself will be subject to review in the same way as the current National Curriculum, as GCSEs are themselves unfit for purpose, and at the root of many of the system's problems?

SECTION J: IMPLEMENTATION (Q34 - Q35)

This section is about what arrangements need to be put in place to support the successful implementation of the new National Curriculum in schools. For example, this may relate to teacher training, inspection, statutory assessment, support and guidance for schools, etc.

Hmmm: teacher-training by teachers, alongside all their other duties and responsibilities... Can we assume (a) improved pay and conditions, (b) reduced teaching workloads commensurate with the increase in overall working time, (c) training for those taking on the crucial job of ensuring that future generations of the UK's young people are taught by teachers who know what they are doing!

Assessment: of course access to attainment data, accountability and so on are important, and all that - but as the man said, "you don't fatten a pig by weighing it"...

 

As explained in Section C, the Government's intention is that the implementation of the new National Curriculum should be phased in, with new Programmes of Study for English, mathematics, science and physical education published in autumn 2012 for first teaching in schools from September 2013, and those for other subjects published in autumn 2013 for first teaching in schools from 2014.  The remit for the review includes consideration of what further phasing may be necessary (for example whether the new Programmes of Study should be introduced in all key stages/year groups simultaneously, or over a period of time).

Let's wait and see what we all have to say, first, eh? Maybe we will provide so much evidence that you will have to readjust your timeframe entirely... 

 

Finally, please let us have your views on responding to this Call for Evidence (eg the number and type of questions, was it easy to find, understand, complete etc.)

As previously stated: too rigid to allow for real breadth of contribution. By definition, the ideological starting-point of the questioning also places limitations on the outcome.

 Not to mention the make-up of the Committee which will be "reviewing" these responses to the "Call for Evidence". Is there no place for ordinary teachers? Who chose the panel?

I await the outcome of the consultation process with real interest...

...although I do believe that of itself, it will have very little effect upon how I do my job - because I will continue to do that to the best of my ability, by daily assessing how I improve the learning of my pupils, and trying to come up with fresh ways of doing so, in collaboration with members of my own Department, other colleagues in my school and other local schools, and via my global PLN.

I will, however, do my best to keep an open mind. All I would ask of you, Mr Gove and the members of the Committee, is to do the same. Even if that means admitting that the results of the consultation process require you to eat your words...

 

 

 

 

a mere 104 days later...

Dear Mr/Ms Bellars,

Thank you for your email of 3 December to the Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister, regarding the importance of language teaching in schools.  As a member of the Secretary of State’s correspondence team, I have been asked to reply and I apologise for the delay in doing so. The Coalition Government is fully committed to the teaching of languages in schools, not only for its social and economic benefits, but also because learning a language helps pupils to understand the different cultures of people around the world.  In his speech at the Westminster Academy on 6 September 2010, the Secretary of State announced that learning a modern or ancient language would be one of the core subjects of the new English Baccalaureate, along with English, mathematics, science and a humanities subject.  Further detail was included in the White Paper The Importance of Teaching, published on 24 November 2010 and we expect that this will lead to an increase in take up of languages at Key Stage 4.    We know that primary school teachers and others have worked very hard over the last few years to stimulate an early interest in language learning, and a recent NfER study showed that 92 per cent of primary schools are now teaching foreign languages within class time at Key Stage 2.  The Government believes that learning a language at primary school can inspire children with a love of languages that will stay with them throughout their secondary education and beyond.  Given the importance of language learning, and the benefits of an early start, Ministers expect that the majority of primary schools that are already teaching languages will continue to do so. On 7 June 2010, the Minister of State for Schools announced that we would be carrying out a review of the National Curriculum to return it to its original purpose - a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines. The review will consider the place of languages within the National Curriculum in both primary and secondary schools, and will ensure that our core curriculum can compare with those of the highest performing countries around the world.  In designing the new curriculum, we plan to consult a wide range of academics, teachers and others with an interest in what is taught in schools.  More details about how to contribute to the review will be announced shortly via our website at http://www.education.gov.uk/, and I hope that you will feel able to respond.

Yours sincerely, Kate Jarrett  Correspondence Team www.education.gov.uk    Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2010/0102172. To contact the Department for Education, please visitwww.education.gov.uk/contactus

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless Worldwide in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2009/09/0052.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes.

Reply

Forward

Your message has been sent.

Reply

Alex Bellars  to alex.bellars, Unmonitored.AC.

show details 10:26 AM (3 minutes ago)

Dear Kate,

Thanks for the reply. You will note that it has not taken me 104 days to respond to your email. May I question the wisdom of the Deputy Prime Minister having a cyber-presence if his correspondence team is not adequately-resourced enough to maintain it for him?

I will indeed be visiting the site below in order to contribute to the debate, as I feel that we are in danger of embarking upon a potentially disastrous, ideologically-led path which will in fact put our education system BACK forty or more years, rather than moving ahead into the 21st century.

Alex Bellars

 

The Twelve Days of Nick Clegg

Apologies in advance to anyone who objects to my (partially-censored) use of the word "cr*p"...

The Twelve Days of Nick Clegg

On the first day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: an email from a la-ckey

On the second day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the third day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the fourth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the fifth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the sixth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the seventh day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the eighth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: eight packs of Marlboro, seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the ninth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: nine jactitations, eight packs of Marlboro, seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the tenth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: ten “brave, bold policies”, nine jactitations, eight packs of Marlboro, seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the eleventh day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: eleven  free school meals, ten “brave, bold policies”, nine jactitations, eight packs of Marlboro, seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

On the twelfth day of Christmas, @nick_clegg sent to me: twelve “no regrets”, eleven free school meals, ten “brave, bold policies”, nine jactitations, eight packs of Marlboro, seven kettled students, six teas for Cameron…five Ratners rings! four broken pledges, three cr*p decisions, two u-turns and an email from a la-ckey

 

Vicious circle...

Hmmmm. This could start to get a little bit silly, if one or other of us isn't careful! 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 18:28, LIBDEMLEADER wrote:

Many thanks for your email.  Due to the high volume of correspondence that Nick receives, it can take us a little while to process incoming mail.  We are currently addressing this situation so please bear with us.  We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Nick via post.

If you are contacting him as Deputy Prime Minister, please write to him at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are contacting him as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, please write to him at 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are a constituent of Nick's in Sheffield Hallam, please write to him at 85 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield S11 7EH or contact Nick via this contact form: www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx<http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx>


Best wishes,

Office of Nick Clegg MP



 ________________________________
UK Parliament Disclaimer:
This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 18:13, bellaale <[email protected]> wrote:

Many thanks for your email.  In spite of the high volume of correspondence that Alex receives, it can take us as little as 1 day to process incoming mail. I am proud of maintaining this speed of response, although on the occasions when I have to send a brief "holding email" so as not to be impolite, within 24 hours, I am sorry for any inconvenience caused - but always make good on my pledge to reply within 3 days.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Alex via post.

If you are contacting him as Alex Bellars, (Voter), please write to him at ##, ######### Close, Hampshire, #### ###.

If you are contacting him as Alex Bellars, Teacher of French, German and PE, please write to him at Ballard School, Fernhill Lane, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5SU.

Best wishes,

Alex Bellars (who admittedly isn't running a country but has to respond to all his own email, Tweets, Facebook messages and mail on his own without an office staff to help). 

- Hide quoted text -

On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Libdemleader <[email protected]> wrote:

Many thanks for your email.  Due to the high volume of correspondence that Nick receives, it can take us a little while to process incoming mail.  We are currently addressing this situation so please bear with us.  We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Nick via post.

If you are contacting him as Deputy Prime Minister, please write to him at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are contacting him as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, please write to him at 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are a constituent of Nick's in Sheffield Hallam, please write to him at 85 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield S11 7EH or contact Nick via this contact form: www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx<http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx>


Best wishes,

Office of Nick Clegg MP

 ________________________________
UK Parliament Disclaimer:
This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

 

Automated response to an automated response

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 18:13, bellaale <[email protected]> wrote:

Many thanks for your email.  In spite of the high volume of correspondence that Alex receives, it takes me as little as 1 day to process incoming mail. I am proud of maintaining this speed of response, although on the occasions when I have to send a brief "holding email" so as not to be impolite, within 24 hours, I am sorry for any inconvenience caused - but always make good on my pledge to reply within 3 days.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Alex via post.

If you are contacting him as Alex Bellars, (Voter), please write to him at ##, ######### Close, Hampshire, #### ###.

If you are contacting him as Alex Bellars, Teacher of French, German and PE, please write to him at Ballard School, Fernhill Lane, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5SU.

Best wishes,

Alex Bellars (who admittedly isn't running a country but has to respond to all his own email, Tweets, Facebook messages and mail on his own without an office staff to help). 

On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Libdemleader <[email protected]> wrote:

Many thanks for your email.  Due to the high volume of correspondence that Nick receives, it can take us a little while to process incoming mail.  We are currently addressing this situation so please bear with us.  We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Nick via post.

If you are contacting him as Deputy Prime Minister, please write to him at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are contacting him as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, please write to him at 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are a constituent of Nick's in Sheffield Hallam, please write to him at 85 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield S11 7EH or contact Nick via this contact form: www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx<http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx>


Best wishes,

Office of Nick Clegg MP



 ________________________________
UK Parliament Disclaimer:
This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

the attempt to contact our DPM continues...

Many thanks for your email.  Due to the high volume of correspondence that Nick receives, it can take us a little while to process incoming mail.  We are currently addressing this situation so please bear with us.  We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Of course, in the meantime, you're still more than welcome to contact Nick via post.

If you are contacting him as Deputy Prime Minister, please write to him at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are contacting him as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, please write to him at 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1A 2AS.

If you are a constituent of Nick's in Sheffield Hallam, please write to him at 85 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield S11 7EH or contact Nick via this contact form: www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx<http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/ncorguk_contact.aspx>


Best wishes,

Office of Nick Clegg MP

 ______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Mr Clegg / Mr Clegg's email answering machine,

I am starting to tire of receiving automated responses to my emails. I have been attempting to contact you for 64 days, via your Twitter account, your Facebook page, this and other email accounts, and even twice by good old-fashioned "snail-mail". 

It is my opinion that a position of such responsibility as yours should by now have an effectively functional response system. I find it hard to believe that you have not yet managed to put such a system in place after more than two months.

My question to you over the last 64 days has, broadly-speaking, been this: "How can you, our multi-lingual Deputy Prime Minister, personally support the teaching and learning of Modern Foreign Languages in the UK?" 

I must tell you that I have now also been in email contact with my local MP (Mr Desmond Swayne), who has responded to me in person 3 times in less than a week. He has provided me with an interesting insight into your apparent input into the recent Cabinet discussions prior to Mr Gove's release of his White Paper: I gather you were at pains to ensure MFL's place within the ongoing curricular framework. This is great news - but why have you not reassured me (and many other colleagues who have also attempted to contact you over the last two months) of this?

I can honestly say that I would not still be tweeting, FBing, emailing and so on each day if you had responded by now. But the fact that this small request has gone unanswered has hardened my resolve not only to get an answer but also to spread my dissatisfaction at the lack of response as widely as possible. 

Can you really afford to add another group of disenchanted voters to the gathering hordes?

Best regards,

Alex Bellars