Open Night season is fast approaching, and the Languages Connect Open Night Toolkit is supporting teachers in the promotion of modern foreign languages amongst prospective first year students. The toolkit, a copy of which has been provided to each school and is also available online, allows for bespoke activities and games which can be done online or face-to-face on open nights. It also includes brochures for parents/guardians, with information on the benefits of learning each language.

Dedicated online Communities of Practices will be taking place to support the use of toolkit with Guidance Counsellors and teachers invited to attend. The sessions will run on the 10^th 11^th, 12^th, 17^th and 18^th of September from 7:30 – 8:30pm and those interested are invited to register for one of these sessions via the Languages Connect Website.

Languages Connect also continues to directly support Guidance Counsellors, with many resources available, including the recently launched foreign language information poster, which will be a useful tool for the academic year ahead. Studying Foreign Languages for the Leaving Certificate and Beyond,  was created with Guidance Counsellors in mind, as a way to support and maintain heritage languages among students and enhance their subject choice. As the language curriculum continues to diversify and more modern foreign languages feature as curricular subjects, it is important for Guidance Counsellors to remain up to date with the “new” languages, as well as the non-curricular languages that students may elect to study. The resource also details the examinations format for each language and information on the possible study options available at third level.

In addition to this resource, Languages Connect has also provided several supports to Guidance Counsellors to assist with career conversations and discussions around the benefits of modern foreign languages at third level and beyond. To access these, simply visit our dedicated Guidance Counsellor section on languagesconnect.ie

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Languages Connect promotes the personal, social, professional, and economic benefits of foreign language skills to principals, teachers, guidance counsellors, parents and students. Funded by the Department of Education and facilitated by Post Primary Languages Ireland, as a key objective of the Languages Connect Strategy – Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017 – 2026.