“Learning languages gives you an edge, speaking another language makes you stand out from the crowd”
Courses
In the Sixth Form all students study a language. The courses available are:
Post GCSE:
• A Level: French, German, Spanish and Italian
• IB Higher Level: French, German and Spanish
• IB Standard Level: French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese
• Asset Intermediate: French and German
Ab Initio:
• IB Standard Level: Spanish and Italian
• Asset Breakthrough: Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Chinese
A Level
At Key Stage 5, students will be entered for the EdExcel GCE syllabus for French, German, Italian and Spanish. There are eight hours of teaching per cycle, shared between two teachers.
Topics covered will include Youth Culture and concerns, Lifestyle, The World Around Us and Education and Employment. In the Upper Sixth, students will also study Marcel Pagnol’s Jean de Florette.
For more information, including details about the exams students will sit, see the GCE Specification for each language on the edexcel website: www.edexcel.com
The IB
All languages are offered to Sixth Form as part of the International Baccalaureate programme, either at Higher or at Standard level. At Higher Level, students receive eight hours of teaching per cycle and at Standard Level, four hours.
Topics covered in class will include Social Relationships, Communication and Media and Global Issues, as well as two further topics, chosen by the teacher. Higher Level classes will also study two works of literature.
All students will complete a written assignment under controlled conditions and three group orals in which issues relating to one of the topics are debated. Students also perform an individual oral exam at the end of the course and sit two written papers. For more information, see the IB website: www.ibo.org
Asset Languages
Asset Languages assesses the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of learners against the Languages Ladder, made up of twelve grades, equivalent to National Qualifications as shown below. Each stage of the Languages Ladder is sub-divided into small graded steps. The Languages Ladder describes what a learner should be able to do in each skill, at each of the smaller graded steps, through simple 'Can Do' statements.
|
Stages on the Asset Languages Ladder |
National Qualification |
|
Advanced Grades 10 - 12 |
AS / A Level |
|
Intermediate Grades 7 – 9 |
GCSE (A* - C) |
|
Preliminary, Grades 4 - 6 |
GCSE (D – G) |
|
Breakthrough, Grades 1 -3 |
Entry 1 - 3 |
Setting
In the sixth form setting is not always possible and group composition is often determined by the timetable. Where there is more than one group for a particular course students are sometimes grouped by previous performance at GCSE.
Related Topics
