In Years 7 and 8 boys at Sandbach School boys learn either French or German – SAND studying French and BEC German. They are taught in form groups and they cover a wide variety of different topics over the two years.  They are also progressively introduced to the grammar and structure of their studied language. The boys have two language lessons per week in the first two years and the department aims to challenge and motivate them with a range of activities and different approaches, many of which are interactive and all of which have increasing independence as their goal.

Towards the end of Year 7 boys have the chance to travel to either France or Germany for a few days to experience life in the country where their language is spoken at first hand.

At the end of Year 8 boys are put into ability groups based upon their performance in Years 7 and 8, and in Year 9 they are taught in sets.  During Year 9 boys continue to develop their knowledge of the language via various topics and creative units of work, which are designed to give them multiple opportunities to achieve the highest levels possible.  Boys in SAND continue French and BEC continue German, with a small number of boys studying extra English and also a small group from BEC following an introductory Spanish course instead.

During Year 9 boys are encouraged to include a language in their option choices, particularly as achieving a GCSE in a language is a prerequisite of attaining the English Baccalaureat.

Topics studied

During Year 7 include the alphabet, personal information, school, family and hobbies. This culminates in a ‘Facebook’ style project at the end of the year.

In Year 8 some of the topics studied include describe their home and their town, and events in the past such as a recent weekend or a holiday or a party. In both languages they work towards writing a film review in either French or German.

In Year 9 all boys do a creative unit of work based on The Simpsons as well as learning about the Environment, Healthy Living and Future Plans.