German is taught at all three key stages in a lively and interesting way with all pupils encouraged to reach their full potential in each of the four skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. Pupils start German in year 8 and continue with the subject until at least the end of year 9. Many opt for German at GCSE and numbers for the GCSE course remain high. Our pass rate at GCSE is well above the national and local average.
Our small team of experienced teachers ensures that the language is taught in a structured way with vocabulary and grammar that occur in one topic being reused in subsequent ones, thus helping pupils to more easily remember what they have been taught. We also benefit from the fact that German itself is a language with clearly defined rules, even regarding pronunciation, and pupils engage well with it. Pupils are placed in ability sets after one term of learning German and the greater exposure to grammar that pupils in top sets receive gives them the necessary tools to successfully construct their own sentences from the very beginning.
Every year we are ably assisted in the classroom by a young person from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, who through the knowledge and skills that he/she brings with them, adds an extra dimension to the whole experience of learning the language. German lessons are full of variety and we make sure that we use all the techniques at our disposal, both traditional methods and modern technology, in order to make our lessons as enjoyable and effective as we possibly can.