German

"We import more from Germany than from any other country in the world; we export more to Germany than to any other country in the world bar the USA"
Source: BBC News, November 2008

Every pupil at Eltham College learns German from Year 8, with the possibility of continuing to GCSE and beyond. The idea is to provide exposure to a range of languages in the early years to enable pupils to make an informed decision in Year 9 when GCSE options are made. Despite a national decrease in the take-up of German, the subject continues to thrive at Eltham with healthy Sixth Form classes and a long-established and ever-expanding programme of trips abroad.

The aim of the German Department is to introduce all pupils to the mother tongue of a large, powerful country still in a state of flux. No other European power has undergone such radical change in the past twenty years. Germany is where East meets West; its capital city is where you can witness first-hand the ongoing and still troublesome fusion of two vastly opposed social and political systems. At Sixth Form level the aim is to increase pupils' appreciation of German history and contemporary life. Particular emphasis is placed on Berlin as the dynamic centre of twenty-first century Europe. In addition to studying the topics prescribed by the exam board (AQA German), we study literature: all Upper Sixth formers study Berhard Schlink's Der Vorleser (filmed this year as The Reader). The switch from 2008 to AQA has brought innovation in the Upper Sixth. From September 2009 we will be teaching the history of the East German Secret Police (with reference to the Oscar winning film Das Leben der Anderen) and looking at the life and death of Dean Reed, the Elvis of the Eastern Bloc.

We organise trips to London at every opportunity. It doesn't matter whether the film is any good; it's the exposure to a foreign language and a world beyond Bromley that counts. Recent films have included The Reader, Yella, Die Welle (for Year 11 and the Sixth Form) and Das Leben der Anderen. Classic cinema plays its part in the classroom: the modern gem Good-bye Lenin! is studied in Year 9. We ran three trips to the acclaimed revival of the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret in the West End and have attended German plays at the National Theatre and the Almeida.

Trips and Exchanges are the core of what we offer. In 2007 the Year 10 Exchange with the Bessel- gymnasium in Minden celebrated its 25th anniversary. We run a Year 11 cultural trip to Berlin which includes a football match at the Olympiastadion (right). Those who opt for German in the Sixth Form benefit from the Lower Sixth Exchange with the Bertolt Brecht Schule in Nuremberg, cultural trips to Berlin and Vienna and, in the Upper Sixth, an Easter revision language course at the Goethe Institute in Berlin.

German lessons are communicative, involved and entertaining. We make full use of BBC and Channel 4 educational broadcasts. We have at our disposal an extensive DVD library and work closely with the School Librarian to keep the range of German books in the library up to date. Media resources centre and additional support can be provided for individual needs. Beyond the technology, German at Eltham is about the people who teach it. In addition to three full-time members of staff, we have a Language Assistant to provide individual tuition to Sixth Formers preparing for the speaking exams. All four of us in the department have spent extended periods in Germany and keep going back. We'd like you to do the same.