Students at Hove Park have been inspired by this exchange programme with a difference and the opportunity to experience language in a real life context has helped them get better results than predicted. They see the benefits of languages and appreciate that they have a practical use outside of the languages classroom which can be really rewarding. This project goes beyond the traditional language exchange, not least because it is supplemented in classroom time with activities facilitated by teachers who are not language specialists. It covers many aspects of the curriculum so it’s not just the languages team but staff and indeed students from a range of disciplines. Staff at the school have been very keen on the international dimension and a number have gone on immersion courses abroad.

The programme has included cross-Channel music and drama projects and performances, a visit to the battlefields of the Somme, business trips to Dieppe, marketing focus groups, and the annual sports camp moving to France with great success and more students than ever wishing to participate. For some these visits constitute their first experience of another country and they have really made a mark. Students have been amazed to discover that other teachers have language skills, for example, a history teacher being able to converse in French on a history trip to the Bayeaux Tapestry.

The food technology dept, which is also integrating language into the classroom through language awareness, loan words etc and cooking in French, Chinese and Japanese, is looking to build links with a catering college in Rouen.

Language(s): French

Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre is a mixed 11-18 comprehensive and Specialist Language College with 1,750 students. 19.5% register for free school meals; 72% from areas of Urban Renewal. 35% from bottom 30% of areas of social deprivation. 18% are SEN and 7% speak English as another language.