November 26-June 17

SmallTalk runs courses for nursery and primary teachers with minimal knowledge of French but who wish to introduce it. Venues: Glasgow, November 26 and May 20; Bristol, December 2 and April 22; Birmingham, December 3 and June 16; Manchester, January 20 and June 17; London, February 10 and 11; Edinburgh, May 6. Fee: pound;95 per course (includes lunch and learners’

pack). Tailor-made courses can also be run in your own centre.

Tel: 0141 647 4860

Email: smalltalk.languages@ntlworld.com

German film festival

November 26-December 2

Screenings will take place at the Curzon Soho, London W1. The festival opens with the award-winning En Garde from the Locarno Film Festival, the story of two girls’ friendship, their hopes and dreams. The programme includes: the family matinee, The Wild Soccer Bunch, and Goethe-Institut London’s focus on Joachim Kr“l, highlighting the actor’s work as a professional hit man in Soundless, as Hannes in Trains ‘n’ Roses, as Rudi Kipp in No More Mr Nice Guy and as Jewish restaurant owner L szl” Szab” in Gloomy Sunday. A section called Next Generation will showcase the work of young filmmakers.

Tel: 020 7734 2255 www.germanfilmfestival.co.uk

Language and literacy

January 11 and 18

The National Centre for Language and Literacy at Reading University is running these courses: “Boosting sentence construction and punctuation at KS1 and 2”, January 11, and “Going to the pictures: using quality picture books to develop literacy in KS2”, January 18. Fee per course: pound;95: pound;85 NCLL members. Tel: 0118 378 8820

www.ncll.org.uk

Cancertalk Week

January 24-28

At the end of Cancertalk Week, school children are being challenged to shut up for a few minutes to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Relief. By taking part in Macmillan’s sponsored silence, the Big Hush, children will have a chance to reflect on what they have learnt during the week about cancer. A free resource pack includes videos, primary and secondary teaching booklets, lesson plans, teachers’ notes and suggestions for such activities as designing a poster, writing a play or hosting an assembly.

Tel: 0845 6011716 www.macmillan.org.ukschools