DGS appointed 'Lead School' as part of the Government's new MFL Pedagogy Hubs programme

The Government has announced the creation of a national language programme to improve the teaching of modern foreign languages, and Dartford Grammar School has been appointed as Lead School for one of 9 Hubs across the country to help implement this drive in the southeast region. The Department of Education said the centre of excellence would be backed by £4.8 million over the next four years, and aims to raise the standard of teaching in languages based on the Latin alphabet like French, Spanish and German.

Nick Gibb, the Schools Standards Minister,  said 'It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now. An outward looking global nation needs a new generation of young people comfortable with the language and culture of our overseas trading partners.' 

Dartford Grammar School does not of course restrict itself to more commonly taught European Languages: all year 7 students study either Mandarin or Japanese before embarking on a European language in Year 8, and all students take GCSEs in two foreign languages. The IB Diploma curriculum in the Sixth Form also includes a foreign language. These features, together with the school's considerable Languages outreach work, evidence our belief and dedication to the Minister's mission statement. 

Headmaster John Oakes adds: 'In addition to this and our work as one of the country’s centres for the Mandarin excellence programme, the school also operates successful a unique Japanese excellence programme, supported by the Japan Foundation, and a unique Classics excellence programme, offering Classical Greek to a small cohort of students, supported by the Classics for All organisation.'