Key Stage 3
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.
Key Stage 4
The following are available as Key Stage 4 options:
- GCSE French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese (AQA examination board)
- GCSE Japanese (Edexcel examination board)
Key Stage 5
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.
Exchanges and Trips
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)
Language Learning
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/
Staff members
Miss S Jones
Head of Languages, Head of French
Miss S O’Sullivan
Head of Spanish, teacher of Spanish and French
Mrs M Tate
Head of Chinese, teacher of Chinese and Japanese
Mr D Thompson
Head of Japanese, teacher of French
Mrs S Bateman
Teacher of Spanish and French
Mrs E Caldwell
Teacher of French and Spanish
Ms N De Silva
Teacher of Japanese and French
Mrs L Hale
Teacher of Spanish and French
Mr V Le Goascoz
Teacher of French and Spanish
Mrs E Payne
Teacher of Spanish and French
Mr S Popham
Head of Key Stage 5 French, Teacher of French and Spanish
Mrs X Zhang-Evans
Teacher of Chinese