Languages

The Faculty of Languages are a committed and successful team who share high expectations and a common sense of purpose. We aim to give pupils an understanding of other peoples, their culture and their language in a modern world. We set out to enthuse pupils for language learning and instill the idea that they can speak at least one language other than their own.

The pace of change and innovation at Deer Park is reflected within the Faculty. We review and update policy and practice on a regular basis as a part of our self-evaluation. This allows the team to be proactive in how we sustain and develop an effective climate for teaching and learning. We were a pilot school for the OCR Asset languages assessments, we welcome PGCE students each year, we are changing our KS4 Specification for June 2009 in the light of the recent changes and are currently a pilot school for the new KS3 Language Framework.

Why study languages?
Learning languages gives opportunities to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and to express yourself with increasing confidence, independence and creativity. Pupils explore the similarities and differences between other languages and English and learn how language can be manipulated and applied in different ways. The development of communication skills, together with understanding of the structure of language, lay the foundations for future study of other languages and support the development of literacy skills in your own language. Find out more...

ICT
The Faculty is housed in a specialist suite of rooms with 30 dedicated computers where classes may be timetabled once a fortnight. We use a wide range of educational language software and also expect pupils to do regular class and homework tasks using Word, Excel and PowerPoint. We are in the process of rebuilding the Faculty website to become a resource for pupils, parents and staff. Every classroom is equipped with an electronic whiteboard around which we continue to build a shared resource bank.

School Exchanges
Pupils are given the opportunity to go abroad whilst at Deer Park, with trips to either France, Holland or Germany in Year 8 during the Summer Term, in Year 9 to Spain or Belgium, and in Years 10 and 11 to either France or Germany. The foreign trips always prove popular, with over 200 pupils each year taking the chance to experience all aspects of culture, language, food, geography and history which have been studied whilst at Deer Park.

Cross Curricular Initiatives
In KS3 we are planning to teach modules from the Geography and History curriculum through either French, German or Spanish from September 2009, and are working collaboratively with English for Poetry, and Music, Art and History for Culture. Our Fast Track pupils will be working on developing a wide ranging Travel Club for September which will allow all Faculties in the School to contribute to this joint Languages/Humanities initiative. Opportunities exist to work creatively to establish exciting projects to enhance both the creative and functional aspects of the curriculum and there is a real willingness amongst both colleagues and pupils to explore dynamic initiatives which can impact upon learning within and beyond the curriculum.

Extra Curricular
In January, we run our Languages and the World of Work module for Year 9 pupils about how to decide their options for KS4 and to put language learning into context for the modern, international world. We also deliver four lessons each week to feeder Primary Schools and have been course-providers for primary French and ICT in Modern Foreign Languages.