Modern Languages

The study of the French language enjoys a long tradition at Ellesmere College. Pupils from year 3 onwards have the chance to learn this beautiful language. Our French department teaches with much enthusiasm and versatility in a dynamic way which allows all of our pupils to contribute to lessons and to reach their potential. Without exception, all of our French teachers have spent some time living in francophone countries and combine cultural knowledge with language-teaching expertise. Pupils opting for GCSE French are taught in all four skills and thoroughly prepared for the AQA examinations. They also have the chance to participate in intensive training days and workshops hosted by external providers to boost their fluency and grammatical awareness further. In the Sixth Form, AS and A2 level French are available as is the International Baccalaureate's French B option.

Spanish is a popular language at Ellesmere College. Our Spanish teachers have all lived and worked in the UK and abroad and combine a wealth of language-teaching experience with cultural knowledge and active links with Spain and South America. We believe in clearly structured and purposeful courses, allowing all of our pupils to develop competencies in spoken and written Spanish, with diligent preparation for external examinations as well as the enjoyment of cultural experiences. Spanish is studied by the majority of our pupils in Years 7 and 8. From September 2012, our Year 9 pupils will study towards an FCSE Short Course in Reading and Writing. Pupils opting for GCSE Spanish are taught in all four skills and have the chance to participate in intensive training days and workshops hosted by external providers. Sixth Form Spanish is taught to AS and A2 or to IB level, with students choosing either the Spanish B course or the Spanish Ab Initio option. Our study trips have been popular in Senior School - in recent years, pupils in Year 9 have travelled to Madrid and our Sixth Formers to Salamanca.

German is run as an International Baccalaureate option and also at GCSE and A-Level for the native speaker. Other languages offered at native speaker level as part of the International Bacculaureate provision are: Russian, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Romanian, Polish and Arabic.