Languages at Deptford Green

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”

Context

Learning a language at Deptford Green is exciting and challenging. Students will develop not only a language, but an understanding of people, culture, history, literature and arts from different countries. A love of learning languages is at the heart of everything we do, and our students share the same curiosity and enthusiasm. Learning a language will equip students with a wide variety of skills that will prove invaluable to them in the future. It reinforces their literacy and oracy in English, and encourages them to problem solve and show resilience.

Class Activities and Enrichment

Languages lessons are all created individually by our department and we use a wide range of resources, including literary and authentic texts, videos and recordings of native speakers and a variety of engaging activities and games. In class learning is supplemented with student access to our interactive online Kerboodle textbook, use of language-learning apps such as Duolingo and Quizlet and access at KS4 to ThisIsLanguage (a website with videos, vocabulary and grammar exercises to engage student learning) and GCSEPod (a website with bite-size videos on revision and exam skills). Students are also provided with vocabulary lists at KS3 and a GCSE vocabulary booklet at KS4.

KS3

We equip students with the confidence, vocabulary and necessary grammatical knowledge to communicate successfully across the four key skills (Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing) in another language. In their language lessons, students will develop these four skills through a wide variety of activities that they find not only engaging and challenging, but also highly rewarding. Learning a language will also deepen their understanding and respect for other cultures through exploring the wide variety of countries where French and Spanish are spoken.

We offer immersion trips to France and Spanish once a year. Students gain the experience of travelling abroad and are hosted by animators who speak to the students only in the target language to improve their communication and resilience. Students experience the local culture by visiting local towns, markets and museums, and explore wonders such as the Mont St Michel or the Roman Amphitheatre of Cartagena. Students also have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of exciting outdoor activities, including sailing, kayaking, beach football, swimming, wind-karting and tree-top climbing at Go-Ape.

In Year 9, students have the opportunity to study Italian as after-school enrichment. They study Italian once a week with our Italian teacher who is a native speaker and comes to us from SIAL - La Scuola Italiana A Londra. Students enjoy learning an additional latin-based language which enriches their understanding of French and Spanish, and have the option to study for a GCSE in Italian.

KS4

Students are assessed in 4 areas – reading, writing, speaking and listening. Each of the areas is worth 25% of the GCSE. The reading, writing and listening assessments are written exams, and students are recorded for the speaking assessment.

Native speakers of any language are encouraged to take their GCSE exam in their first language in Year 10, and will be supported by the MFL and EAL departments to do so. We support our students by offering sessions on exam skills and helping them to apply their knowledge to a language GCSE. They have the opportunity to sit PPE exams and are given detailed feedback. This prepares them for their language GCSE, and has improved their confidence for their other GCSE exams at the end of Year 11.

Miss Z. Calvert, Head of Modern Foreign Languages: zcalvert@deptfordgreen.co.uk