This is a message to the parents of all students involved in the VERBcast.
The VERBcast is an innovative project aimed at students currently studying French in the upper secondary school. It's primarily aimed at students involved in the PiE project, currently underway in the three local authorities of Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire, but we have made the programmes and information available to all those who want to take part.
We felt it was important that we provide this information for you to give you some background about the project and to answer any questions you may have. If you wish to discuss any aspect of the VERBcast with us, please contact us. We have also provided a FAQ for students involved, and we'd encourage you to read the VERBcast FAQ along with your son or daughter.
The VERBcast is made up of audio programmes, each one lasting about 15 minutes, which can be downloaded to computers, iPods, mp3 players, etc. The audio programmes cover pretty much everything that students need to know about French verbs in preparation for their exams. The verbs are introduced using various methods, both traditional and alternative. We have developed some innovative learning strategies involving relaxation techniques and visualisation. You should be aware that the programmes encourage the listener to become totally relaxed and open their minds to learning. These techniques, however, do not involve any form of hypnotism.
If students have been invited to take part in the VERBcast by their schools, they will have been invited to send their mobile phone number to Partners in Excellence. You should be aware that all mobile numbers and/or email addresses supplied to Partners in Excellence will be entered into an electronic database for the purposes of communication within the VERBcast project. This information will not be shared with other users or with any third party. Students involved in this part of the project will receive 1 or 2 text messages each day with reminders, revision and tests on what they've been learning. These text messages will be sent around 8:15am and at lunchtime, in line with the research done on our initial release of the VERBcast.
Finally, we're aware that this launch of the VERBcast is coming at a time when students will have other subjects to think about. We are in no way suggesting that French should be more important than any other exams. The programmes last 15-20 minutes each day and are intended to take the listener away from traditional, book-based study for that short time.
We very much hope your son/daughter enjoys using the VERBcast and that they learn a lot from the experience. We hope that they will be able to provide feedback to us in the form of comments on each programme on the website.
Once again, please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions about the VERBcast.
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