Languages

All pupils have 4 or 5 lessons of French a fortnight throughout Key Stage 3. Most pupils also start a second language in Year 7, which continues to the end of Year 9 alongside French. In the current Year 7, the second language is chosen from Spanish, Japanese or Chinese. There is also provision for children who need extra support in English.

Aims:
The Key Stage 3 Languages curriculum aims to enable pupils to:

• to communicate information about themselves in speech and in writing
• to express and develop ideas and thoughts in another language
• to understand and respond to spoken and written language
• to communicate for practical purposes
• to develop strategies for learning languages
• to develop and understanding of grammatical and linguistic structures
• to appreciate the customs and traditions of the target language country
• to appreciate the differences between the target language country and their own culture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/guide/ gives a quick guide to the features of the languages offered at KLB.

All classes have some access to our Computer suite on a rota basis for lessons and most classes have some access to the Audio room.

The following are available as Key Stage 4 options:

• GCSE French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese (AQA examination board)
• GCSE Japanese (Edexcel examination board)

A levels are offered in:

• French and Spanish (AQA examination board)
• Japanese (Edexcel examination board)

For Chinese, students study the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) Pre-U Mandarin. This is equivalent to an A level, recognised by universities in the UK and overseas and the qualification carries similar UCAS points to a full A level subject.

Students have the opportunity to take part in a range of well-established overseas visits to support their language learning.  Trips that regularly run at KLB are:

• French exchange with Collège Denecourt (near Paris)
• Japanese exchange with Hikawa High School (Yamanashi Prefecture)
• Spanish exchanges with Colegio I.E.S. (Gran Canaria) and Colegio Altair (Madrid)
• Language trip to China (arranged through Confucius Institute at Institute of Education)
• Sixth-form French trip to Lycée Barthou (Pau)

Learning a language can present new challenges. Successful students develop a range of learning skills for vocabulary and frequently revise what they know to make it stick.

• Teachers and students make use of Quizlet to practise and learn vocabulary. Groups have been set up for individual classes to make finding sets of words easier.
• We subscribe to https://www.linguascope.com/ and other websites that can help reinforce what students have learnt in class.
• Many good ideas for memorising and revising are gathered together on the school website here.
• Why Study Languages? gives lots of great advice about languages in general.
• Useful links for Japanese learners: https://nihongo-e-na.com/eng/