The Modern Languages Department occupies a suite of three rooms, all of which are well provisioned with a television, DVD player, CD/Cassette player, OHP and data projectors to deliver languages in an active and enjoyable way.

The Staff

Modern Languages at Dover College is delivered by a team of four full-time teachers plus two language assistants from France and Spain.

Therese Taylor, Head of Department, is a native speaker who joined Dover College in January 2004 from a local Catholic secondary school where she taught for thirteen years. She currently teaches French at  KS3 (years 8 and 9), KS4 (year 10) and in the Lower and Upper Sixth.

Eva Aylward, Head of Spanish, is a native speaker who joined Dover College in September 2004 after teaching Spanish at a local Catholic secondary school for twelve years. She currently teaches Spanish at KS3 (years 7 and 9), KS4 (years 10 and 11) and in the Lower and Upper Sixth Form.

Suzanne Arbuthnot is in her first year of teaching; she joined the department as an NQT in January 2007, after spending two years as an assistant in France and Spain. She currently teaches French in years 7, 9 and 11 as well as Spanish in years 8 and 9. She also has a small input with both French and Spanish in the Sixth Form (A Level)

Our foreign language assistants help both teachers and pupils by taking small groups or individuals for further study and conversation. They also teach French and Spanish to our Infants and Juniors.

The Curriculum

At Key Stage Three, all pupils take two modern languages- French and Spanish.

Most pupils start Spanish from scratch and have one or two years of French from primary school, but those who are more advanced are taught at an appropriate level.

We follow the National Curriculum for Modern Languages, which means we have a topic based approach and are committed to communicative teaching. It is important that pupils understand the language they are using and therefore what we do is underpinned by grammatical understanding.

At the end of the third year, pupils decide whether to continue with both or one language as part of their GCSE exams.

Key Stage Four are the GCSE years and we currently offer French and Spanish at this level. Our AQA GCSE examinations are designed to develop communication and understanding. Again the syllabus is topic based, with emphasis on listening, reading, writing and speaking skills and grammatical understanding. Last year we had 100% A-C pass rate, with 82% of the candidates gaining A* to B grades.

We encourage many pupils to continue their languages after GCSE into AS and A level. The syllabus is AQA for French and Edexcel for Spanish and builds on the foundations laid at GCSE. We study a variety of topics, which are thought-provoking and relevant to young adults and permit independent study into areas of particular interest. Last year's pass rate at AS and A Level was 100%.

Other Information

Languages at Dover College benefit from the international flavour of the school as a whole - there is a real understanding of the importance of learning other languages and most people are confident in their ability to communicate effectively with others.

Trips/Outings/Exchanges

The department aims to permit as many pupils as possible to have access to the countries of the target languages studied. Great consideration has to be taken not to overload parents financially, as other trips (such as sports activity trips) have traditionally taken place throughout all key stages.

KS3

Christmas Market trip in Lille (December)

Day Trip to Nausicaa in Boulogne (Summer Term)

Residential: year 8 combined language and water sport trip to France and Spain alternatively (Summer Term)

KS4 and KS5

Christmas Market trip in Lille (December)

Exchange mail and day trips with Exchange School (Lycee Leonard de Vinci)

Sixth Form French students organise extra individual exchange week-ends and day trips with their exchange partners.

Residential: in Normandy/Nord Pas-de-Calais (Year 10)

Spanish: the department is currently investigating a residential trip to Gredos Centre in Sierra de Gredos for KS4 and the Sixth Form. (Easter Holiday or Michaelmas Half Term)