Additional Information

Extra-curricular activities and trips

The Languages Department runs an active and varied programme of trips and activities both in the academy and beyond throughout the year.
Within the academy, revision sessions are organised on a weekly basis for year 11 students who wish to improve their exam grades and students perform French carols and songs for the various concerts which are held throughout the year. European Day of Languages is always marked in some way – in 2009 the department ran a poetry competition on the theme of the challenge of learning languages.
As far as learning outside the classroom is concerned, every year at the end of June, we take the whole of year 7 to Boulogne for the day. It is an ideal opportunity for them to experience a taste of France. We visit the market, do some shopping and after a picnic in the park, visit the sea life centre and then later the old walled town. For some students it is their first time abroad and therefore most memorable.
There is an established French exchange programme to Lyon every October. This year we are taking 20 students to spend a week in French families and attend our partner school. It is a highly valuable experience and helps students enormously with their GCSE speaking tests.
In February 2010, 30 year 11 students spent 2 days on a combined visit to London and Paris -the first day at a GCSE revision conference in London followed by travel to Paris in the late afternoon by Eurostar to Paris for an overnight stay in a student hotel in the 14th arrondissement. The second day of the trip was spent sightseeing in Paris ending with a meal at the famous Chartier restaurant in Montmartre.
In 2010, the French department joined forces with the History department for a combined trip to the battlefields of Belgium including attendance at the evening ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. The following day is spent in Lille Arras and St Omer giving students an opportunity to explore Northern France.