Languages
“Nelson Mandela once said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.’ He was so right. When you make the effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s just basic phrases here and there, you are saying to them, ‘I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being”
Trevor Noah
At Cantell, languages are an important part of our community. As you walk through the corridors, you will see and hear over 60 different languages being spoken by our students and staff.
At KS3, everyone studies Spanish, and our high prior attaining students also study French and Latin. Students are able to continue their language studies at KS4: we offer French, Spanish and Latin as GCSE options. Students who speak a language other than English at home are encouraged and supported to achieve a home language GCSE (where available). Our extra-curricular clubs provide students with the opportunities to learn conversational French or German, or to take part in Erasmus projects with our partner schools in Europe.
In French and Spanish, we have created a curriculum which allows students to develop their linguistic knowledge and skills whilst learning about the culture of French and Spanish-speaking countries and communities. We learn how the Mexican festival ‘El Día de Muertos’ is celebrated, use drama to discover what happened during the French Revolution, taste traditional foods, learn to play pétanque, and much more!
In Latin, students encounter life in Rome and the wider Roman Empire using a variety of stories told through the eyes of the ordinary population. Students develop their comprehension and translation skills through the study of latin literature.
At Cantell, we have a strong partnership with schools in Le Havre, France; Tarragona, Spain; and Sicily, Italy. We have an established exchange programme with our French partner school, and hope to replicate this with our Spanish and Italian partner schools in the future.
We want all our students to gain the skills and confidence to be able to communicate with native speakers and make new friends all over the world! A language can help you to stand out in business, engineering, computing, journalism, law or drama. Wherever life takes you, a language takes you even further!