Year 7 French Day Trip to St Omer and Boulogne

On this trip students get the opportunity to practise some of the French they have learned in Year 7.  We begin by visiting the Auchan hypermarket in Longueness, near St Omer, which is about 30 minutes’ drive from Calais. Students will order their lunch in French at the Flunch restaurant in the corner of the hypermarket, before indulging in some shopping in the hypermarket itself.  We then proceed to the town of St Omer itself to visit the cathedral, a minor basilica, which is almost one thousand years old.  Next, our students head to an ice cream parlour to order (again, in French!) “une glace” of their choice.  To round off a long but very enjoyable day, we visit the Nausicaa sea life museum in Boulogne where the penguins, stingrays, sea lions and hammer-head sharks are particularly popular. C’est fantastique!

 

European Day of Languages

This event, celebrated every year on 26^th September, recognises the hundreds of languages spoken in the UK alone.  The highlight of the week are the assemblies where up to forty students perform an assembly, holding a flag from their country of origin, speaking briefly in their mother tongue and sharing an interesting fact.  There could hardly be a better way to show off the rich diversity of our own school community!

 

Year 7 Advent Calendar Competition

Every year students in Year 7 create an advent calendar, either individually, in pairs or in trios, with Christmas themed vocabulary and illustrations from either France, Germany or Spain. The success criteria includes use of sustainable materials and the advent calendars are displayed during December in the school library for all to enjoy.

 

Inter-house Quiz

Led by our sixth form language prefects, and supported by BTEC Business students, we are proud to run an annual inter-house quiz which pits students from each house against each other in a enjoyable but fun competition!

 

Year 8,9 and 10 Theatre Performance

Every year we invite the Onatti Theatre Company to visit Newlands to perform a play in either French, German or Spanish (each year on rotation).  They plays are performed in our Main Hall in the target language and by native speakers.  They are always humorous and engaging, as the actors speak slowly and clearly, using lots of repetition, cognates and gesture to make the dialogue accessible to students of all abilities. 

 

Year 9, 10 and 11 Pen-pal Exchange

We offer students in Years 9. 10 and 11 the opportunity to take part in pen-pal exchanges with our partner schools in Duisburg (Germany), Metz (France) and Valladolid (Spain).  This enables willing students to communicate in the target language with young people of their own age.

 

Years 10-13 German Exchange

We were delighted to resume the German Exchange with the Gesamtschule Duisburg-Süd this academic year. This successful and long-standing exchange with a mixed comprehensive school in the Ruhr area of north-west Germany brings huge linguistic benefits as well as personal development. The exchange is offered to students who have opted for GCSE or A Level German. Alongside a wide-ranging programme of visits to cities such as Cologne, students practise their German by living with a host family for one week, gaining a unique insight into the lifestyle and customs of the country.