Departmental Aims
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To develop the ability to use a foreign language: i.e. French, Spanish or Italian; effectively and with confidence for the purposes of practical communication and social contact in a foreign language environment either abroad or at home.
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To form a sound base of the skills (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, writing language and attitudes required for further study and continuing use in work and leisure.
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To encourage positive attitudes to foreign language learning and to speakers of foreign languages and a sympathetic approach to other cultures and civilisations.
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To make the activity of foreign language learning and the introduction to other cultures and civilisations essentially an enjoyable and meaningful experience which provides pupils with intellectual stimulation and a sense of achievement.
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To recognise the role which the development of foreign language skills plays in the personal and social development of the young person.
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To develop an awareness of the nature of language and language learning.
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To promote learning skills of a more general and cross-curricular application; i.e. analysing, memorising, drawing of inferences.
In meeting the above aims, the teaching of Modern Languages will reflect the broad aims of the whole school curriculum by promoting the personal and social development of the pupils, by adopting a holistic approach to the young learner and, in so doing, reflecting the new government proposals and contributing to the implementation of whole school policies.
It is recognised that these aims are not attainable to the same extent by all young people, nor are they intended to be so. It is important to emphasise, however, that all the aims of the department are appropriate to each individual young person. The extent to which these aims are to be realised will be determined by the ability and experience of the individual. For each academic year pupils will be entered for a variety of examinations, both internal and external.