We recognise the importance of learning languages in a globalised world. Acquiring competence in another language is a crucial life skill, which develops cultural awareness and opens up many employment and travel opportunities.

All pupils are given the opportunity to study two languages throughout Key Stage 3, and are strongly encouraged to carry these through to Key Stage 4.

Languages offered are:

• French
• Spanish

In addition, students may be entered for public examinations in their native languages, according to their individual needs. Currently we have students taking Russian, Chinese and Italian.

Our small classes allow us great flexibility to adapt to individual needs, thus enabling our pupils to use the language effectively and confidently. We use a range of the most up to date resources available, including the wealth of online materials, to develop the four key skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Pupils have a thorough grounding in grammar, but we encourage them to develop their communication skills alongside this, and they enjoy the interactive nature of the lessons.

We offer our students a variety of activities including the French cinema club and the Spanish cultural club. The Patagonia coffee club is an example of the cross-curricular work the MFL department engages in with other departments in the school. The department also works in collaboration with one of the top universities in the country to give pupils a flavour of advanced language study. We support our students who take part in regional and national competitions such as the GCHQ Language Challenge, Ruta Quetzal or the UK Linguistics Olympiad.

The Department offers many opportunities to visit France, Germany and Spain in addition to taking trips further afield to regions such as Patagonia. We have a long-established exchange with our partner school in Germany and also have a partner school in Spain. GCSE French students attend a very popular language school in Montpellier, France. Sixth Form students are also offered the opportunity to take part in work experience abroad and those that do, find this an incredibly beneficial experience.