The ALL January Event 2026

Saturday 17th January 2026

Table of Contents

Introduction

Twenty years on from our first ALL London January Event in 2006, we were delighted to welcome a big crowd to our ALL London January Event 2026! It is a real joy to meet with these exceptionally keen teachers, trainees, trainers and exhibitors who are prepared to get up early in the morning to share their enthusiasm for passing on the love❤️ of learning languages!

The venue and BFI people were great, the ALL corporate sponsors and the Language Institutes provided a colourful and interesting exhibition, the speakers were brilliant, the committee friendly and efficient, and the attendees delightful! THANK YOU to them all.

This page will evolve as we gradually add more thanks, a report, information, photos and reactions. Those who registered and secured places or were on the waiting list have access to an additional private page with further downloads of presentations. The password is shared via Ticket Tailor communication after the event: Private to registered attendees.

Photo Album

Here is our photo album for the day hosted on our Flickr account. Click to see more!

Documents / downloads

The following documents and presentations are available to all:

Programme: ALL Jan 2026 invitation on the day
Event booklet for attendees: ALL January 2026 Details of sessions and speakers V2
ALL London Annual Report: ALL London Branch Annual Report 2025
Bernadette Clinton MFL Consultant describes the Hackney approach to languages and introduces secondary and primary teachers from the borough who will share their experience and practical activities which have worked for them. Samantha Saggar – Head of languages at Waterside Academy (secondary) and Cristina Gainza – Head of European languages at The Urswick School (secondary); Jacqueline Smith ex-Head of languages St John of Jerusalem Primary; Raquel Tola Rego – Spanish and CLIL specialist at Parkwood Primary International Spanish School; Sara Alonso Jimeno – teaching in 3 primaries in a Federation of Daubeney, Sebright and Lauriston NFT4 10.30 Clinton et al 17 Jan 2026

Reactions

It is lovely to see the reactions of those who attend. The pictures tell the story really. But it is a special bonus when people take the initiative and the time to write a few words to us or to the world to share their experiences. Céleste was first off the block and has written this lovely post in LinkedIn.

Programme:

Saturday January 17^th 2026 9.30 –2.45

0930	The Blue Room: Registration & tea/coffee and biscuits – the committee will be there to welcome you! *Opportunity for Job offers + seekers to match up!*
10.00	NFT3: Introduction, welcome and essential up-dates from ALL (Helen Myers (ALL London Chair), Nick Mair (ALL London Vice Chair) Anna Lise Gordon (ALL Co-President) incl. encouragement to match Job offers + seekers London:City of Languages – some inspiring stories for all Vicky Gough (London:City of Languages Chair)
10.30	NFT3: Building Your A-level Repertoire– Steve Smith. A great opportunity to meet our friend – popular blogger, author, experienced teacher with a wealth of strategies for your A level class. Steve will outline sound principles for A-level teaching along with a wide range of classroom activities for listening, speaking, working with texts, vocabulary, grammar, film and literature essay writing. The session will suit both practising and aspiring A-level MFL teachers. OR ’NFT4: Primary + KS3 focus: “Sharing what works: Local collaboration, transferable ideas”. Anna Lise Gordon (Co-President) will lead a session which invites Primary and KS3 teachers to share what is working for them, including those in Hackney, as referenced in the CAR report. Bernadette Clinton MFL Consultant describes the Hackney approach to languages and introduces secondary and primary teachers from the borough who will share their experience and practical activities which have worked for them. Samantha Saggar – Head of languages at Waterside Academy (secondary) and Cristina Gainza – Head of European languages at The Urswick School (secondary); Jacqueline Smith ex-Head of languages St John of Jerusalem Primary; Raquel Tola Rego – Spanish and CLIL specialist at Parkwood Primary International Spanish School; Sara Alonso Jimeno – teaching in 3 primaries in a Federation of Daubeney, Sebright and Lauriston
11.30- 12.00	The Blue Room: Comfort break / top-up of coffee / chance to ‘network’ / view info from corporate members (incl exam boards), speakers, and our sponsors and to soak up the feeling of being in a beautiful venue by the Thames! Job offers and seekers encouraged to meet up! Exciting raffle with great prizes! Please bring own mug (if possible) to save the environment! *Exhibitors: AQA, Business Language Champions, Edexcel Pearson, Goethe Institut, Institut français, Languagenut, NCLE, Spanish Education Embassy, Maison Claire Fontaine, The* *Japan Foundation,* *Thisisschool, Twinkl, Voyager School Travel*

12.00 – 13.00	NFT3: ‘What’s working for the new GCSE preparation?’ We are delighted that Jennifer Wozniak, Assistant Headteacher i/c of teaching and learning and CPD is joining us to share her passion for her craft and her subject. This presentation will delve into practical methodologies and techniques to enhance students’ engagement and proficiency. There will be a range of tried-and-tested activities designed to strengthen reading, listening, writing, speaking, dictation, and translation and that can be used in your classroom right away. OR NFT4: Studio Cinema: Primary focus: What next, following the CAR report? Panel and discussion Led by Anna Lise Gordon (Co-President) + the ALL London Primary Hub Leaders: Cara Bleiman, Nadine Chadier, & Miriam Paridjanian. An opportunity to add your voice to the follow-up consultation to the CAR report by sharing what works for you.
13:15 – 14.00	‘Getting your Years 10 and 11 ready for June 26 GCSE: An Update for Teachers’ NFT3: Edexcel: Rebecca Waker Subject Advisor & Fiona Pryce, Senior Qualifications Manager MFL NFT4: AQA; Chloe Burrows and Rachel Livingstone, Subject Support Managers for Languages, OR The Blue Room: Job Application Clinic for Students. ‘What are schools looking for?’with Nick Mair, Academy Teacher, ISMLA, Vice Chair ALL London, Nathalie Blondeau, Harris Federation, David Blow, SESSET Executive Headteacher. A ‘Must’ for trainee teachers preparing CVs, applications and interviews from experienced and inspiring teachers and managers!
14.00 – 14.45	The Blue Room – a working lunch! [We provide the drinks + biscuits] *London:City of Languages – The next steps* …. Vicky Gough Annual General Meeting – Chaired by Helen Myers 1. Election /confirmation of committee members; 2. Reports from the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer; 3. Response to issues raised by Management Board; 4. Issues to be raised with the Management Board (please give advance notice of issues you wish to raise in writing before the event if possible); 5. AOB
& next?	Why not book to see one of the films being shown in the afternoon?

Our speakers (alphabetical by surname)

Cara Bleiman

Primary Mandarin Project Consultant & Primary/Secondary Partnerships at Harris Federation

Nathalie Blondeau

Senior Languages Consultant at Harris Federation, A level French Advisor (ESS), SLE, MCCT, ALL London Branch Committee & LCoLSG member

David Blow

Executive Headteacher of SESSET

Nadine Chadier

Experienced Leader with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. NPQS, Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, Skilled in Translation, Management, Proofreading, Training, and Research. Chevalier de l’ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Bernadette Clinton

Consultant for languages and International Links in Hackney at Hackney Education Lecturer on primary ITE at Middlesex University

Anna Lise Gordon

Professor of Education, St Mary’s University @TeachStMarys @AnnaLiseGordon Co-President, Association for Language Learning, 2025-2026 Key interests: Languages, teacher wellbeing and bereavement in education

Nick Mair Former Director Dulwich Languages, Former chair ISMLA, Trustee Chartered Institute of Linguists IoLET, Governor CFBL, Vice chair ALL-London, Chair Camberwell Society

Jérôme Noguès

Taught French for over 20 years. Translator/Adaptor/Editor/Project manager
Teaching resources writer K2 to KS5 & integration of cinema in language learning for the British Film Institute.
Article writer on the effective integration of technology in teaching.
Leader of multiple national and international webinars on technology in education and the efficient integration of edtech and AI in language teaching.
Microsoft Innovative Education Expert – Google Certified Educator – Apple Teacher
Transforming digital learning in multiple environments.
AI and Languages specialist.
Founder of Poésíæ and Poésíært, global foreign language poem and art competitions.

Miriam Paridjanian

Experienced French Teacher with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Yoga, Public Speaking, Teaching, Tutoring, and Swimming. Strong education professional with a BA Hons focused in French Language and Literature from University of Sussex. Leader of South London Primary Hub for the Association of Language Learning, member of Massage in Schools Association Committee UK, experienced yoga teacher.

Steve Smith taught A-level French for 32 years and was a Head of MFL at Ripon Grammar School for 24 years. He is a blogger and author about language teaching, occasional speaker, and resource producer for the widely used frenchteacher.net website. He was an associate with AQA, training teachers about the the post-2016 A-level specification. In 2024 he published, with Steve Glover, the book called Teaching A-level Modern Languages. His latest books are called Thinking About Language Teaching (Volumes 1 and 2).

Jennifer Wozniak-Rush, Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning, ELE and Specialist Leader of Education in T&L and MFL at The Hollins in Lancashire. She has a wide experience of teaching French from KS1 to KS4 and Spanish to KS3.

Our sponsors (alphabetical)

We are very grateful to our ALL corporate sponsors who support the event by being there and contributing to the costs of the refreshments and venue costs. Here is a list and some photos from the event. AQA, BLC, Languagenut, Maison Claire Fontaine and Difusion offered raffle prizes – happy winners featured below!

AQA,