Dorcan School
St Paul's Drive
Covingham
Swindon
Wiltshire

Person in charge of project: Elizabeth Burnett

The school is a mixed comprehensive school for pupils aged 11-16 with 1000 pupils and 60 staff.

The project is a Variety Show involving about 100 pupils from years 7 to 11 of all abilities. The 2-hour long show is performed entirely in French and German. During the interval the audience is treated to food cooked to authentic French and German recipes. The refreshments are served by pupils using the target languages. Other pupils are involved in the design and production of tickets and other promotional material for the event.

Objectives of the project

• To be accessible to pupils of all ages and abilities
• To explore cultural aspects of France and Germany
• To encourage pupils to look at language outside of the classroom
• To increase motivation
• To improve translation techniques

• The project caters for a variety of skills and is very broad-based, offering opportunities for all students
• This is a pupil-led project; they are responsible from start to finish

• It encourages a wide participation amongst pupils
• The project involves other subjects in the school (Technology, Dance, Music, Drama, ICT)
• The 2-hour long show, all in the target language, had a big impact on the audience and was oversubscribed
• The local community gets involved with the project by publicising the event
• Overseas and British students are given valuable experience in working with disadvantaged British children
• Other local schools are being encouraged to introduce languages into the primary curriculum

• This is now established as an annual event
• The French and German shows will be performed on separate nights in future
• Income from ticket sales was used to buy resources for the MFL department, including software and reading books, and it is hoped to increase this revenue