Learn language, learn life!

Enrichment

A wide range of enrichment activities are available:

• The year 10 Language Leaders award
• Year 8 residential trip to Munich, which takes place in March
• Year 10 residential trip to Barcelona in May
• Year 7 Day trip to St. Omer, which takes place in June
• Year 9 cartoon competition

Languages offers opportunities for students to:

• Write to students in France, Germany, Spain and South America
• Watch and discuss films in French, German and Spanish
• Learn about different cultures
• Read articles in French in the school library
• Purchase Key Stage 3 language magazines

Course Overview

You will have 2 or 3 action packed languages lessons a week – plenty of time to establish your essental learning skills by singin songs, watching DVDs, using the interactive whiteboard and playing our great Splat! game (ask any Netherhall student what it is!).

At the end of year 7 you will have the great opportunity to choose which language you want to study in years 8 and 9! You can do French or German; if you are in the top set you can do BOTH, which is even better.

At the end of year 9 you will be given a good choice of GCSE language courses: French or German (whichever you are already studying), or Spanish from scratch. You can do 2 languages – or all 3!

Languages at Key Stage 3

In year 7 you will cover About Myself, Buying Things, Present Tense Verbs and Adjectives. In year 8 you will cover Healthy Living, Meeting Up, Future and Perfect Tenses. In year 9 you will cover Discovering France, work on a magazine project, Reflexive Verbs and more complex structures.

For German, in year 8 you will cover Describing People, Present Tense Verbs and Word Order. From year 9 you will look at Dating Story, Healthy Living as well as the Future and Perfect Tenses.

Languages at GCSE (French, German & Spanish)

At GCSE you will cover the following topics:

• School Life
• Local Area
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Work
• Holidays & Tourism
• Eating Out
• Healthy Living
• The Environment
• Road Accidents & Breakdowns

Assessment

Reading – An exam containing texts in the target language and assessing students on their understanding of the written language.

Listening – An exam containing audio in the target language and assessing students on their understanding of the spoken language.

Speaking – Two four minute speaking tasks for different purposes (e.g. persentation and conversation), assessing students on their communication and the quality of their language.

Writing – Two 300 word pieces of writing on two of the topics covered in the course, carried out in class.

Languages at A Level

What will I study?

You will study French/German through target language materials drawn from the following topic areas:

• Personal relationships

• Sport and pastimes

• Education

• Food and drink

• Media

• The world of work

• Holidays

• Metropolitan France

The four skills used to study the topics are listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Grammar is also taught through the topic areas.

What will I achieve?

A high level of competency in the language, with a detailed knowledge of French/German grammar. This is in addition to improved communication skills and cultural awareness.

How is the course assessed?

The speaking component is assessed via an oral exam comprising a role play and discussion of a chosen topic relating to French/German culture.

The exam paper tests the skills of listening, reading and writing. This is done through a variety of grammar activities, translation and responding to written and aural stimulus in the target language.

All examinations are externally marked.

For more in-depth information about the Languages courses click here.