Foreign language provision in Kent schools

[chimera-ma]

Today's news includes George Osborne telling his Chinese hosts that his own 12 y.o. is learning Mandarin and that the UK government plans more funding for teaching the language at secondary level.

I know a few schools in Kent offer either Mandarin or Japanese or both, but so many seem wedded to French, German and/or Spanish. Latin too is still a fixture at a few.

Are Kent schools offering our DCs the language opportunities they need in the modern world?

Are teachers or parents in Kent aware of any schools actively considering changing or adding to the languages they offer?

[hermanmunster]

I suspect any changes in languages will rely on being able to find teachers to teach them - the numbers taking languages at A level seems to be dropping year on year.

I don't think there is any problem with French / German / Spanish - much more likely to get the opportunity to use them.

[chimera-ma]

I was thinking more of the geopolitical and business landscape and improving career opportunities, as well as fostering a broader cultural perspective.

Dartford Grammar School for Boys seems on the right track, offering Chinese and Japanese, including student exchange programmes. WoK, which is not a super-selective school, manages to offer Japanese.

I'd like to see Russian and Arabic on offer in a few places too, the latter increasingly important given the ongoing flux in the Middle East - although Aramaic might be more useful in respect of supporting refugee communities.

I would also like to see foreign language learning in schools reviewed for its relevance nationally, with different options available across Authority-run schools within a given District, and certainly an alternative to Latin, which should only ever be optional at secondary level. Just personal opinion, of course!

[hermanmunster]

I agree we should be learning more foreign languages but it is tricky when the number of teachers is decreasing and we have such a spread of languages to chose from - not like non-anglosphere countries where the choice is so much easier.

Love Russian! Might be different in Kent but none of the others would be much use in the Northern Powerhouse

[chimera-ma]

If we're going to have Chinese involvement in building our nuclear power stations and the HS2 rail link, that might change!

[hermanmunster]

we can do without either development frankly

[yoyo123]

Our school in Cheltenham did Russian in the 70s.

It only dawned on me about 10 years ago that it was because of GCHQ!

[quasimodo]

Our school in Cheltenham did Russian in the 70s.

It only dawned on me about 10 years ago that it was because of GCHQ!

Are you working undercover?

I am, still in bed after the school drop off.