Languages
Across the Curriculum – Integrated Courses
Sir Bernard Lovell
School
North Street
Oldland Common
Bristol BS30 8TS
Person in charge of project: Rosanna Raimato
The Sir Bernard Lovell School has had Language College Status since 1996. It is an 11–19 state comprehensive school within the South Gloucestershire LEA, with approximately 1,130 students on roll.
Since September 1999, all of the current Year 10 students have been studying
a second modern foreign language, with the majority doing this via 'integrated
courses', which they will continue next year and which will remain part
of the Key Stage 4 curriculum. All students will receive accreditation
for these language courses.
Integrated courses involve students learning the new language as part
of another subject course. They have one hour a week of the linked subject
taught to them by a languages teacher, with the remaining lessons delivered
by the specialist subject teacher. In this academic year, Italian and
German have been linked with GCSE Short Course Art; Italian with GNVQ
Part 1 Business Studies; Spanish with GCSE Short Course Geography and
with GNVQ Part 1 ICT.
The success of the project has led to the same aims and ideas being extended into the Key Stage 3 curriculum. The same principles will be applied to links made between first and second language courses and work in Science, Maths, Technology, Humanities, English, Expressive Arts and ICT. This also means that the range of language and subject combinations at Key Stage 4 may also be extended as a result of option choices for the next academic year, and they too will be developed in the same way. The school is also advising schools interested in adopting the same approach to delivering a second language at Key Stage 4, and those wishing to investigate how they could use similar projects in their own curriculum.
Judges' comments
This exciting project in a Language College uses languages as a tool for
teaching other subjects in a way that goes beyond a straightforward section
bilingue exercise. It provides students with a new context for language-learning,
and enables them to use a foreign language for a real purpose.
The project brings
a clear international dimension to students' learning experience, and
aims to help them feel that they are being taught within the framework
of a linked, coherent curriculum. The project has been meticulously prepared
and staff co-operation between departments has been exemplary. The focus
on innovative forms of accreditation is extremely interesting.
