MFL

Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This quote outlines very succinctly the reason why at Hockerill we put the learning of foreign languages at the heart of all learning.

Learning foreign languages not only provides essential life tools in a globalised world but also allows learners to become confident and competent communicators with an awareness of their own culture and the culture of others around them.

Language is the prism through which we perceive other cultures. It is not only our aim to encourage a natural curiosity about the local and global world our students grow up in, while equipping them with the tools to access its cultures as well as the competences and opportunities to experience and learn about these first-hand.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart Nelson Mandela

Intent 

Our aim at Hockerill is to give students confident possession of their innate linguistic abilities, and to help them discover where these abilities lie.

This is achieved through offering all students opportunities to excel within a distinctive International Baccalaureate based curriculum and a rich co-curricular offering.

All students at Hockerill will study at least two foreign languages to GCSE level, choosing from French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish.  To achieve our aim of developing competent and effective communicators in foreign languages, we will deliver all our lessons through the target language to create an ideal immersion environment.

The classroom experience will always be supplemented by our extensive and excellent programme of visits and exchanges which every year gives our students the opportunity to experience the culture and people in the target language country.

Implementation  

Our target language tuition for all students creates an immersion learning environment that aims to recreate the target language and target culture environment in the classroom.

This is extended through our unique bilingual programme that enables most students to study some subjects in another language, for example History and Geography through French or German. This will further aid acquisition of and provide exposure to the foreign language and thereby equip learners with valuable transferable learning tools.

Lastly, the outstanding and comprehensive programme of visit and exchanges connects the classroom with the real world and challenges students to apply their developing linguistic skills while experiencing other people in their cultures.