Our GCSE and A Level results in Modern Languages this Summer were the best of recent years. The 2008 results are here.
King Edward's underwent a full school inspection in May 2007. You can read the full report here.
The focus of the inspection was on what the school achieves as a whole rather than on individual departments, but we did spot this: "Learning (at KES) is often enhanced by effective use of ICT ... Notable examples of fine practice include modern foreign languages, where text manipulation and listening materials are integrated to provide multi-faceted resources, and a well-constructed website which significantly provides learning support for pupils in need." We're glad of the recognition, but if you can think of ways in which we can improve the site, which is not yet finished, please let us know.
The Inspectors felt constrained to use the word "outstanding" no less than 26 times in a 20 page report.
Our second course in Mandarin Chinese ran throughout last year with three classes of pupils studying the language each week using the British Council's "Chinese for GCSE" materials. Last year, we had one class of 20 beginners and 32 boys (2 classes) embarking on their 2nd year of Mandarin. Chinese is taught from 7.50 to 8.40 three mornings a week between October and May. Visit our Mandarin page here for more details and online resources.
A letter about this year's Chinese classes will be sent to parents in early October.
As always, at the start of a new year, we welcome new arrivals to the department. Miss Pascale Esnault, who covered a period of maternity leave for us last year, now joins the department as a full-time teacher of French. We are delighted that last year's French and Spanish Assistants are still with us: Claire Laya and Anny Estevez are joined this year by our new German Assistant, Christoph Wild.
At the beginning of July '07, a group of KES pupils returned from Lampertheim, near Frankfurt, where they had been taking part in a work experience exchange. Boys in the Fifths (Y11) and Divisions (Y12) spent 10 days living with German families and experiencing working life in Germany. Placements included the local newspaper, a hospital and the offices of a major engineering company. All those who took part had a great time and made some good friends along the way.
Our AS and A2 linguists are making increasing use of Wikipédia, the free, searchable, multilingual encyclopaedia. Among many items of interest, you will find this page on King Edward's, written by a former member of our 6th Form.
Our pages for the 4th & 5th Form (Years 10 & 11) continue to grow. Spanish is almost complete and German is under way. Among our recommendations are the impressive modern languages website at The Ashcombe School in Dorking, Surrey, the outstanding Spanish site at Colby College, Maine, USA and the huge bank of German resources at Web German. Click the French, Spanish or German links on the left to find out more.
If you're visiting this site, probably not. But the perplexing attitude of the average Briton towards language learning is highlighted in this BBC news report. Elsewhere in the European Union, life is very different, as this website illustrates.
If you want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, have a look at our careers advice. Be aware of the importance of language skills as you choose which subjects to study at school. Finally, consider building language study into your degree course.
King Edward's is planning to become an International Baccalaureate (IB) school from September 2010 and to phase out A Levels by September 2011. More details will appear here soon. One of the consequences will be that every boy currently in Year 10 (4th Form) and below will study a language until the age of 18. For more information about the IB at KES, click here.
Thirty-two 4th Formers spent a week of the Easter holidays in 2007 living in families in Salamanca in western Spain, studying at the Don Quijote language school in the mornings and enjoying a programme of visits and activities in the afternoons. We also enjoyed a day in Madrid on the way home. More details on our Salamanca page. We plan to repeat the trip next Easter.
Our 8th exchange with the Institut Fenelon in Grasse, France, ended on 1st April 2007. Our partner school's Semaine Internationale once again provided a wealth of new experiences, friendships and opportunities. More information and a selection of photos are available here. We had a year off last year, but plans are already well advanced for this year's Exchange. A group from Fenelon will arrive in Birmingham in December 2008 and the return visit is planned for March/April 2009.
Boys studying German in the Divisions (Y12) and Sixth Form (Y13) visited Berlin where they enjoyed a wide-ranging programme of visits to museums, art galleries and other places of interest. In addition to developing linguistic skills, this trip gives who take part a general introduction to the history and culture of this fascinating city.
The BBC have one of the best sites for language learners on the Internet. Why not use it to support or extend the course you are following in school?
The menu at the top of this page gives you access to a number of useful language tools. They include a site search facility, six different dictionaries, the fascinating Virtual Thesaurus and websites which enable you to type accented letters without installing additional software.
One of our more famous Old Edwardians was J.R.R.Tolkien, whose fascination for languages is legendary. Read more about the influence of his language studies on his literary work here.
If you're lucky enough to have Sky, you already have French, Spanish and German TV at home.