Bonjour! Hola! Guten Tag! Ciao!

Welcome to the Modern Foreign Languages department.

At SVCS, we believe in encouraging our students to speak foreign languages independently for communication in class and in the wider world. We use songs, literary extracts, film and magazine articles to promote enjoyment of language learning and to explore the cultures of some of the many countries where French and Spanish are spoken. In order to foster an independent approach, we begin by studying the phonics (i.e. the sound-spelling relationships) of the languages and we also teach strategies for performing well in each of the skills of listening, reading, speaking, writing and translating to and from the foreign language.

In Years 7 to 9, students have two lessons of their chosen language (French or Spanish) each week. They can then opt to continue with their chosen language to GCSE at the end of Year 9.

In order to help our students speak foreign languages with as much confidence as possible, we always take part in the regional “Have Your Say” competition, organised by the Association for Language Learning. We have been very proud of the fact that we have taken teams through to the regional finals every time we have competed. 

We hope that your child will leave Stour Valley with confidence in their ability to communicate in a foreign language and a passion for learning new languages as they go through life.