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When Kindergarten moved into their wonderful new building in September 2008, the staff of MFL in BGSG looked forward to a refurbished and spacious new department.  In September 2009, the wait proved to be worthwhile.  We now have five brand new light and airy teaching rooms, all equipped with state of the art interactive whiteboards. This enables us to incorporate technology into our everyday teaching; from using modern language websites, showing topic-specific video clips and feature films, to interactive activities based on our course books. The MFL Department is enjoying being so well resourced and there is no doubt that pupil motivation for languages is enhanced by the improvement in surroundings. We are already looking forward to the next phase, when we hope to replace the now obsolete Language Lab with a language computer suite.

There is much publicity regarding the crisis in language learning nationally, with the number of teenagers taking a foreign language falling rapidly, but this is certainly not the case at BGSG. Girls have the opportunity to learn French, German and Spanish and all take at least one language to GCSE. The current Year 13 boasts some excellent linguists, four of whom are off to university to study languages, including Laura Stoker who has been offered a place to read German and Portuguese at Cambridge.

Language learning is not restricted to the classroom. There is plenty of opportunity for pupils to put their skills to the test in real life. During the current academic year there has been a trip to Madrid and ever-popular exchanges with schools in Cologne and Dijon. A trip to Berlin is planned for next Easter.

As well as moving into new rooms, we also welcomed new staff to the Department this year. Lucienne Rauch, who spent the first years of her life in Germany, joined us to teach German and Spanish and Old Girl and Oxford graduate Ruth Melia returns to the school to teach French, German and Latin. We look forward to Joseph Oakley, a Cambridge graduate, joining us in September to teach French and German.

Old Girl Ruth Melia reports: "As a former BGSG linguist, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the new technology which would be available to me as a teacher here. Learning a language should be a bright and vibrant experience, allowing students access to cultures and traditions, as well as giving them the tools to communicate. Language lessons at BGSG are the antithesis of ‘old school' education - lively and animated with never a dull moment"