Year 7 introduces students to French, with topics including family and school life; daily routines and free-time. All three main tenses are introduced as well as key grammatical structures necessary to create a solid base for further language learning in Years 8, 9 and beyond.

Students of French will build on the topics and grammar covered in Year 7 and both reinforce and increase the complexity of the language they can understand and produce. All lessons feature a variety of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation tasks.

Students who opt to study German from Year 8 have the opportunity to visit the beautiful town of Heidelberg for a five-day residential trip.  This German course provides scope to practise all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing; as well as introducing grammar such as word order, use of cases, adjective endings, use of prepositions and an introduction to present and past tense verbs. Students are immersed into many aspects of the culture and given insights into an assortment of traditions from the German-speaking world.

Spanish students are introduced to the language by covering basic concepts such as present tense verb endings, pronouns and adjectival agreements. Topics covered include greetings and introductions, schools and family, as well as leisure activities, home and local area. Students are encouraged to develop their cultural awareness and take part in enriching activities.

Students are assessed once a term and regular progress checks are built into lessons to inform teaching and planning. Additional content areas for students of French are media, holidays, eating out, health and cultural topics.

In German, students build on their previous knowledge, reinforcing topics and grammar already learnt and increasing the complexity and range of their language. They continue to be immersed in the German-speaking world and given a real insight into culture and traditions of German-speaking countries.  These skills and the knowledge attained give them a solid foundation from which they can step up to GCSE with confidence.

Spanish students develop the basic concepts already introduced such as the present tense, verbal and adjectival agreement and pronouns. In addition, they also cover the past and the future tenses. Topics covered include food, shopping, leisure activities and holidays. Students are encouraged to develop their cultural awareness and take part in enriching activities.

KS3 students in French use the newly published DYNAMO, in Spanish CLARO and in German ECHT, all supplemented by the relevant on-line learning subscriptions to enable students to practise their language skills.