German

German is taught throughout the School. In the First Form all pupils complete a half-year taster course. If they opt to continue with their study of German (and many do!) they will have three lessons a week for the Second and Third Forms. In the Fourth and Fifth Forms pupils work towards the Edexcel IGCSE exam, with two double lessons a week and additional conversation lessons taken by our German Assistant.  Pupils who choose to continue their German studies in the Sixth Form follow the AQA course.   By the end of the course they will have developed a wide ranging knowledge, not just of the structure of the German language, but also of Germany’s recent history and modern culture.    

Outside the classroom there are opportunities to explore and experience German culture. The German and French Departments alternate in organising a trip for First and Second Form pupils in the Summer Term – this year we will be spending a week in Boppard on the Rhine and undertaking daily language challenges.  The popular Upper School language trip to Lindau on Lake Constance offers our older pupils the chance to live with a German family, improve their language skills in daily lessons at the Dialoge Sprachinstitut and also to visit Germany, Austria and Switzerland within a week!.  Our links with Lindau continue to grow – this year two recent pupils are spending their gap year there, with one taking additional German courses at Dialoge, and the other working as the first English assistant at the Freie Schule Lindau.  For the past two years A Level students have also spent a long weekend in Berlin, to complement their studies of the Berlin Wall and life in the GDR.

The German department consists of three teachers and an Assistant, who this year comes from Austria.