Hiya, wondering if anyone can give me an insight to what it means to take up the languages spaces in Grey Coat Hospital School? Thank you.
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Secondary education
South80s · 01/11/2023 13:00
If you get offered a language place it means you're pretty much guaranteed a place - regardless of distance from the school or religious affiliation - as long as you then put the school first on your preference list. The language place pupils are all in one class together, so generally the discipline and standards in that class are high as well. I'm pretty sure the language students also must take two languages at GCSE and they also take German and Spanish from Year 7 (rather than French and Spanish which is the other option - presumably as it's two different language families).
EditedSouth80s · 01/11/2023 13:00
If you get offered a language place it means you're pretty much guaranteed a place - regardless of distance from the school or religious affiliation - as long as you then put the school first on your preference list. The language place pupils are all in one class together, so generally the discipline and standards in that class are high as well. I'm pretty sure the language students also must take two languages at GCSE and they also take German and Spanish from Year 7 (rather than French and Spanish which is the other option - presumably as it's two different language families).
EditedLondoneer · 25/03/2024 16:06
Oh and because of an administrative mix up way back when, they DID accidentally let me know the banding make-up (too complicated to explain how that happened). So the 15 language girls are all Band 1 (top 25%) and the remainder of their class are Band 2 (middle 50% -that’s Bands 2 & 3 in some schools). All of the other classes have a liberal sprinkling of every band, so from all abilities. It doesn’t matter a fig as from Yr9 they get put into sets so what class they’re in is fairly immaterial. The school must take 25% from bands 1 and 3 and 50% from Band 2, plus the languages girls who are all Band 1, subtly skewing their intake.
TizerorFizz · 26/03/2024 07:38
@Londoneer I meant to ask you too. How can they spot a linguist who has never had a chance to show any talent?
TizerorFizz · 26/03/2024 09:38
@Araminta1003 Why would you enter a voluntary MFL test if you had no idea dc might be good at MFL? Grammar school tests don’t include MFL so you are tested on core curriculum taught every day plus verbal reasoning. My dd did verbal reasoning for a grammar test but my question is, with an optional entry test (assuming it is optional) how would you know how to choose it? I would have assumed for DD it was a waste of time as she had not been to a prep. I would have been totally wrong but unless all dc do the aptitude test, how do parents know dc should be entered?
Araminta1003 · 26/03/2024 10:10
@OhCrumbsWhereNow - I have a close friends with a very dyslexic child who is acing Mandarin! I think the pictographic language really helps.
The language aptitude tests are used in the Security Services. They must work.
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TizerorFizz · 26/03/2024 09:15
How might you find out if your DD has an aptitude if they have never done any MFL? Why would you go in for the test? Seems an odd selection criteria to me. Best to stream after y7.
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