Pupils’ progress is good at all ages. In Years 10 and 11 smaller sets in German and Spanish enable rapid progress to be made in these two languages which pupils take up on their arrival in the school.

Most pupils are attentive and interested learners. Pupils arrive on time for lessons and relate very well to one another, working well together in pairs. The teaching environment is stimulating with bright posters and pupils’ work displayed in all the teaching rooms.

The pace of the lessons was generally very good. Almost all lessons contained a variety of activities. The interactive whiteboard is widely and sensibly used. The relationship between staff and pupils is warm and supportive and staff willingly give extra time to pupils experiencing difficulty. Three members of the department are native speakers and all other members of staff are fluent in their respective languages. Pupils of all ages and abilities are used to hearing the target language in the classroom.

The department keeps very good records and the interim grades which are issued every three to four weeks are extremely useful in monitoring progress and adjusting the composition of sets.

The department is adequately resourced. The interactive whiteboard is an extremely useful teaching tool and the booking system for its use works well. The College library holds a good stock of foreign language videos and DVDs and target language newspapers.

The department is energetically and well led and has a clear vision of current and future priorities. The importance of foreign visits is clearly recognised and the time and effort put into these visits by staff is valued by both the school community and the parents. The NQT has been integrated very successfully into the department which consists of four full-time and five part-time members of staff plus a French and a Spanish Assistante. In addition to examination INSET, staff have attended courses on a wide range of topics.