Modern foreign languages are an important element of the education that children receive at Junior King’s School.  Languages give pupils the chance to make friends in other countries outside their own, broaden their horizons and improve their understanding and acceptance of other cultures.

The first language that children learn is French, starting in the Pre-Prep.  Spanish is added to the curriculum in Year 5, so children study bothlanguages in equal measure from Years 5 to 8.  Our setting system allowspupils to enjoy learning languages at their own pace and enables us to welcome those who join the school without previous knowledge of French, Spanish or both, to a beginners’ set, from which they can progress to other sets when they are ready.

Our specialist teachers work together with two native Language Assistants, so we can provide classroom support wherever needed, offer oral practice sessions, produce language plays and meet the need of our bilingual students.  Bilinguals are given the same time allocation for their language as the other pupils, but follow adifferent syllabus that has been especially designed to help themimprove their level of fluency and progress in the four areas of skill.

Day and residential trips abroad are fun and very popular at JKS.  Year 4 spend a day in Boulogne, sample the local market and visit the aquarium Nausicaa. Pupils in Year 6 have the opportunity to spend four days in Le Touquet area and enjoy a long list of activities, from sand sailing to visiting a local chocolate factory.  Year 7 children can choose to participate in a Spanish exchange, hosting a Spanish pupil for a week, and return the visit in Year 8, when they will spend a week in Madrid at our partner school.