In Year 7, 8 and 9 students are learning to describe themselves, their environment and their experience in French or Spanish. They develop their 4 skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) at their own pace with interactive methods and interesting projects. They are also able to use different tenses. Students enjoy writing and acting role plays, interviewing people and also learning about French or Spanish culture. For example, our Year 7 are doing a ‘Snack bar’ Role play in French; our Year 8 appreciate describing their teacher as a ‘Wanted person’, in Year 9, our student enjoy learning more about the Spanish Civil War through films and research.

At Key Stage 4, it is recommended that pupils study a language as it can be an asset when applying to university. We have chosen Edexcel as our exam board for French and Spanish and we are now doing modular examinations. Students are doing their Speaking and their Writing exams as Controlled

Assessments. They will only sit two exams at the end of year 11, Listening and Reading. In lessons, students are improving all four skills in the different Themes and Topic areas.

Learning languages does not only involve learning in the classroom as the department offers trips to all students. The school offers a number of foreign visits where students have the opportunity to discover the culture and to practise their language skills.

Throughout the year, the department tries to promote languages with different activities (e.g European Day of Languages, Bastille Day…), as well as interactive and fun lessons.