Departments

Italian

Italian is offered as an optional second language from the UIV (Year 8). We Italianists are proud to share our heritage and culture through our teaching. Italy is extremely diverse, politically and culturally, and has a uniquely rich artistic, classical and historical past. Its contribution to music has been significant and influential through the centuries.

Our aim is to impart and enthuse our students with the opportunity to sample these influences through a creative, original and inspiring curriculum, encouraging students to develop lifelong communication skills which can be applied in a broad range of contexts.

Our teaching and learning styles are exemplified by the use of the school’s language laboratories and well-maintained Portal, through which students may choose to access major national newspapers and also watch approved multimedia channels for up-to-date daily news. We also offer a wide selection of videos, songs, plays and historical documentaries to enhance linguistic and cultural awareness. The learning of grammar is made fun by numerous interactive language games that prove popular with our students. The library stocks an extensive range of Italian texts and DVDs that are available for the students to borrow. At the end of the VI (Year 11), students sit the CIE IGCSE, continuing to Pearson Edexcel Advanced GCE for which the CIE IGCSE is an excellent preparation. Both exams test all four language skills. All students will have a weekly lesson with the oral teacher.

In the VII (Year 12), students deepen their grammatical knowledge and significantly extend their active vocabulary to explore issues regarding the position of young people in society.

They have to be able to offer opinions on relevant topics, ranging from the positive and negative effects of popular trends in society to Italy’s artistic and cultural heritage. In their final year, the students will explore a literary text and a film, which will be examined through a written response for each of the chosen work. Finally, in Paper 3, students will be able to demonstrate their thorough knowledge and understanding of Italian speaking culture by expressing themselves in a confident and sophisticated way, and will have the chance to carry out their Independent Research Project (IRP) on an area of their choice relating to a country or countries where Italian is spoken.


Trips and Cultural opportunities

Alongside the course, we are committed to offering our students a first-hand experience of the language through study trips to Siena and Venice. Evening trips to the opera and the theatre are arranged to support their learning, improve the level of understanding and communicating, as well as deepen their appreciation of Italian culture and society.

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