German

German exchange

Aims

  • To provide a learning environment in which pupils can enjoy language learning activities and find intellectual stimulation.
  • To support the acquisition of study skills across the curriculum, such as systematic learning, clarity of presentation, language awareness, independence, dictionary and ICT skills.

Staff and facilities

The department is staffed by 6 full-time and part-time German teachers. We also have a German assistant. The languages building has five classrooms, a dedicated Sixth Form classroom, a language laboratory and a multimedia centre.

How much time will I spend on this subject per 10 day cycle?

  • Lower School – 3 lessons (3 hours) with 2 x half an of hour homework
  • GCSE – 5 lessons (5 hours) with 2 hours of homework
  • A Level – 10 lessons (10 hours) with additional individual study

All A Level pupils have one session per week with the German assistant.

German in the Lower School

There is no setting or streaming by ability at any stage. The course book used in the Lower School is Logo. Other materials used include German websites, videos, German magazines and Collins Pocket Dictionary.

First Year

First Year topics include:

  • Greetings
  • Pets
  • Countries and towns
  • Food
  • Colours
  • Numbers
  • Time
  • Age and birthdays
  • Timetable and school subjects
  • Days of the week

Second Year

Second Year topics include:

  • Weather
  • Seasons
  • Past tense
  • Holidays
  • Trips and arrangements
  • Lost property
  • Illnesses and exercise
  • Money and shopping
  • Directions
  • Suggestions for activities
  • TV programmes
  • Birthday celebrations.

Third Year

Third Year topics include:

  • Asking for and giving personal details
  • Nationalities
  • Preparations for a visit to Germany
  • Past and future tense, shopping, school rules, comparisons with German schools, directions, media.

German further up the school

GCSE

At GCSE we follow the AQA syllabus. On average each group has 20 pupils. By the end of the course, pupils should have enough German to communicate effectively in most situations when visiting Germany on holiday or on an exchange visit. The department has an excellent record of results with a high percentage of candidates gaining A* and A grades.

A Level

At A Level, sets are, on average, between 8 and 10 pupils. The groups are taught by 2 or 3 teachers, each of whom is responsible for a particular area of the specification. The course book used is Zeitgeist. We prepare pupils for the OCR examination.

Lower Sixth

Topics taught in Lower Sixth include:

  • The family: different structures and relationships
  • Food, drink, health, obsessions and addictions
  • Transport: trends
  • Tourism and related themes: tourism as a changing phenomenon, tourism and the environment
  • Leisure activities: aspects of cultural life, such as film and theatre
  • Communication technology: patterns and changes to communication in daily life
  • Media, such as written press, radio, television (roles and influences)
  • School and work

Upper Sixth

Topics taught in Upper Sixth include:

  • Integration and exclusion: age, gender, race, religion, equality of opportunity
  • Law and order: trends of crime and punishment, civil unrest, policing
  • Unemployment: causes and consequences
  • The individual and the environment: pollution, recycling; reducing individual energy usage and impact; conservation
  • Medical progress: development and change
  • Scientific and technological advances: change and innovation
  • Literature and the arts
  • Political issues
  • Heritage and history: influence and impacts of heritage (including colonial heritage) and historical events (national and international) on contemporary society

Are there any trips and clubs?

Trips to the Cornerhouse or Goethe-Institut to see German and other foreign films are offered. The department organises study visits for the Sixth Form to Berlin every 2 years and there is a well established exchange with a school in Bad Segeberg, near Hamburg in North Germany. Approximately 20 – 30 pupils in the Fifth Year take part in the programme each year. Stockport Grammar pupils host in the Autumn Term and our pupils spend 11 days in Germany in February.