Modern Languages

Knowing how to speak one or preferably more modern foreign languages is vital in ever more walks of modern life, whether in science, technology, business, law, media or the arts.

Because of the importance of communication we make learning Spanish, French or German as rewarding and enjoyable as possible. Our dedicated multimedia centre, which includes satellite TV, has 26 PCs allowing whole classes to benefit from up-to-date language teaching software; it also contains a wealth of reference material with a teacher on hand to give help and advice. Permanent foreign language assistants provide oral tuition and further encourage students to develop their linguistic skills.

Beyond the classroom there are frequent exchanges and visits, such as to France (Le Vesinet, Paris and the capital of Champagne, Reims), Germany (Kleve, Cologne, Berlin and Bavaria) and Spain (Zaragoza and Madrid). Extended work experience abroad is increasingly part of the A level course.

Foreign language performances by professional theatre companies and visits from guest speakers all add to the linguistic experience, as does the extensive range of resources.

Lunchtime Mandarin Chinese club has been a popular extra-curricular activity and in recent years pupils have also asked to learn Russian, Arabic, Japanese or Italian either with in-house support or completely independently.