Remove and 5th Form CurriculumThe importance of German in the Europe of the twenty-first century cannot be over-emphasised; with the expansion of markets to the East and the strong position of Germany within the European Union, German speakers will have a clear advantage. Already aware of this trend, many British universities offer combined business/language, computing/language, engineering/language courses. The ability to speak two or more European languages is an asset to any young person; a pass in GCSE German can thus open many doors.
The course follows on without a break from the material covered in the Fourth Form using, in addition to a coursebook, a wide range of materials, such as magazines and television and radio programmes. We also encourage our pupils to get involved with our e-mail friendship programme with our partner school in Unterhaching, a suburb of Munich. Pupils take the GCSE examination at the end of the Fifth Form, by which time they have covered all the topic areas of the National Curriculum.
A vital language-learning resource is, of course, the country itself. The Department offers a study trip to the cosmopolitan city of Munich in the October half term of the Fifth Form year. This trip provides a valuable opportunity for students to practice their language skills in preparation for the GCSE mock examinations as well as the chance to enjoy a number of interesting excursions and a visit to our partner school. We strongly recommend that our pupils participate in this trip.
To qualify for taking German to GCSE level a genuine and enthusiastic interest in the subject and a satisfactory performance in the Fourth Form Summer Term examination are required. The examination board used is Edexcel.
