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Languages
The study of a second language has been a fundamental and core part of education since schools as we know them were invented (and indeed before!), and with good reason. Comprehension and expression are absolutely key skills, and it has long been known that the way to learn these is by learning a language.
The knowledge of a second language is also a practical benefit, and all relevant institutions in the United Kingdom, from the Government to the Universities to employers’ organisations, suggest that all students who can learn a second language should do so.
Key Stage 3
Pupils entering the school in Year 7 first have a language awareness programme, where they experience a half-term of each of the four languages we offer in the school: French, German, Spanish and Latin. At the end of the Easter term, parents are asked to choose which of these four they would like to have as their child’s main foreign language, and students start this language from the beginning of the summer term. This system allows us to give pupils an excellent allocation of lessons in their main foreign language (currently three periods per week in Year 7 and four periods in each of Years 8 and 9), and it allows pupils to concentrate on acquiring a good level in one language before adding a second if they wish to.
Key Stage 4
In Year 10 we offer French, German and Spanish to GCSE, subject to a sufficient number of pupils opting for the subject. In the future, we will introduce a two-year GCSE option which will allow pupils who have had one language in Key Stage 3 to add a second foreign language, if they wish to.
Key Stage 5
We teach French, German and Spanish to AS and A2 level, in small groups and with good results.
Extra-curricular activities
The Languages Faculty organises annual exchanges with schools in Spain, Germany and France, and so all GCSE language pupils have the opportunity of taking part in an exchange. In addition, we help with the annual Year 8 Enrichment week visit to France.
