Merryman has a reputation for providing good quality teaching materials which work in the classroom. However, Merryman has always been more than just a publisher. Since 2001, Merryman has also provided support for Primary School French teachers as a free service. Over the years we have received a host of queries from French word roots to "borrowed" words in current usage and from ideas for planning a Christmas concert or Assembly to the construction of a scheme of work. For the most part, we have been able to help directly or to point teachers in the right direction.

Janie Mireylees has been a Director of Merryman since 2001. She has many years' experience as a Primary teacher and has been involved in Primary Language Learning for over twenty years as an author and as a teacher trainer. She has provided one-to-one and group support and training in methodology and use of materials for Primary French teachers, from class teachers with minimal experience and confidence in early foreign language teaching to Secondary language teachers and French native speakers with minimal experience of good Primary practice. She has worked with LEAs, Regional Support Groups, Cilt,  ALL and Blen as well as providing teacher support through Merryman. She has created a substantial amount of Primary French teaching material for a structured French language scheme as well as numerous resource publications.

"As a new class teacher in the early 1970s  I had some experience of the Nuffield French scheme. In the 1980s and 1990s, while continuing to teach,  I became involved in writing French teaching materials and assessing effective methodology for teaching a modern foreign language to Foundation and Primary School aged children. This was at a time when Primary School foreign language learning was piecemeal and left largely to individual enthusiasts. We have come a long way to our current situation as foreign language learning in Primary schools has become more extensively organised and funded. Support networks for teachers are in place at local and national levels. We hope that teachers will continue to look upon Merryman as an approachable, user-friendly source of support, a layer of support in addition to their local authority and Regional Support Group. "   Janie Mireylees  2008 

Contact:

By telephone/fax: 01949 875 929

By e-mail: info@merryman.co.uk