Modern Languages
At The Tiffin Girls’ School, Modern Languages aim to enable our students to become culturally aware, highly competent users of French and Spanish. Our chief objective is to foster a positive appreciation of cultural differences and to encourage intercultural understanding, whilst helping the students develop a sophisticated knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of Spanish and French.
The study of both languages is compulsory throughout Key Stage 3. At Key Stage 4, students choose one of our Modern Languages, with a number of committed linguists continuing with both. Optional at Key Stage 5, students enjoy a weekly session with our native Language Assistants, in addition to their regular lessons. The Spanish and French departments follow the AQA syllabus at GCSE and A-Level, boasting an extraordinary track record in examination results.
Our highly skilled teachers deliver fast-paced, interactive lessons that help students develop their ability to communicate effectively for a variety of purposes. Culturally-rich, suitably chosen authentic materials from a range of contexts and sources are used from Year 7 onwards, increasing our students’ cultural knowledge and exposure to grammatical and lexical complexity in French and Spanish. The importance of creativity is also paramount in Modern Languages, with students taking part in a number of creative projects in both languages.
Ultimately, our curriculum aims to encourage the students to be independent, confident language learners, able to apply the skills and knowledge acquired and refined during their time in school in future language study or in the world of work, where knowledge of languages is in high demand. A number of our students each year go on to study Modern Languages at leading universities, as single or joint degrees alongside subjects such as Law or History.