The Modern Foreign Language (MFL) department is well established on the ground floor of the main building within the school. The bright classrooms are well provided for technically, as we have 3 classrooms fully equipped with interactive Promethean whiteboards, including the boardworks language software as well as an excellent quality sound system.  We use a very ICT based method of teaching, and thus use ICT suites regularly to help deliver the MFL curriculum. The department currently has three members of staff, two teaching French and one teaching Spanish (native speaker). To ensure that pupils make the most of learning Modern Foreign Languages, a language assistant is employed each year to work with pupils in class or in small groups, which pupils have enjoyed immensely over the years.

Languages as part of the curriculum

At Buxton, we offer the learning of French and Spanish from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4. In Year 7, pupils have the choice of learning either French or Spanish. In Year 8, pupils continue with their chosen language to the end of Year 9, where they can opt for the language they wish to choose for KS4. Languages are a popular choice at Buxton with the department having an excellent record of success at GCSE. Currently French pupils in years 10 & 11 follow the WJEC syllabus, taking the coursework writing option in Year 11. Spanish pupils study the AQA Modular B syllabus submitting the required coursework in years 10& 11.The department organises regular visits to both France and Spain each year to enrich pupils’ language learning experience, which are very popular with pupils.

 Our Language Community:

At Buxton we benefit from having pupils from a rich variety of cultural backgrounds, the main community language provision is for Urdu, which is taught after school on Wednesdays. Students already proficient in a language such as Bengali, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, Russian or Turkish may also be entered for a GCSE exam. The school ensures an assessment is carried out, an examiner is provided and candidates are entered through the school. Pupils are guided on the exam preparation and technique by the Head of Languages, Mr. Phillips.