 |
Introduction
| Overview
| Becoming an LC
| CILT support
|
Becoming a Language College
How do you become a Language College?
A school wishing to apply for Language College status must:
- produce a Development Plan showing how it will improve teaching and learning in Modern Foreign Languages covering four academic years;
- include in the development plan a strategy for raising achievement in Modern Foreign Languages and for increasing the number of pupils taking two languages at Key Stage 4 (includes GCSE and other accredited courses);
- show separately in the Development Plan how links with other schools and the wider community will be extended by the school gaining specialist designation and how other schools and the community (including business and industry) will benefit;
- secure the required sponsorship.
The DfES website on Language Colleges provides information on sponsorship, sources of support, funding, guidance and application forms, case studies and development plan studies. There is also a section that deals with Frequently Asked Questions.
The Specialist Schools Trust supports schools with their applications.
Timetable
There are two annual competitions for designation which close in October and March of each year. Revised guidance is issued in May / June of each year. The DfES considers all of the applications and announces which schools have been approved for designation about three months after the closing date for each competition. Schools will begin operating as a specialist school from the September following their designation. Schools are initially designated for four years. Re-designation for a further period of four years is dependent upon satisfactory performance as a specialist school and ambitious new plans.
