Languages for everyone! At Hove Park our vision is to develop a distinct and visible “Languages for All: Languages for Life” ethos throughout the school community and beyond. The school is committed to developing an international ethos across the whole curriculum so that students leave us as sophisticated 21st century global citizens, fascinated by other cultures and relishing the opportunities to communicate in another language. This is Hove Park’s distinctive interpretation of the National Languages Strategy.
Our international ethos boosts teaching and learning across the whole curriculum bringing benefits to staff, pupils, partner schools and the wider community. Our students have the opportunity to use their languages through a variety of different experiences outside as well as inside the classroom. Our exceptional work in this field has been recognised by the British Council in winning the International Schools Award twice (2005/2008) and the award for TES/HSBC International School of the Year (2008).
Hove Park was awarded Specialist Language College status in 2002 and this enables the school to secure funds to develop and disseminate good practice within the school and to other local secondary and primary schools as well as 6th form providers across Brighton & Hove. It has brought with it a huge increase in resources for Hove Park which has enabled us to provide new buildings, increased staffing and extensive additional ICT resources, such as video-conferencing, interactive whiteboards and portable netbooks to enhance teaching and learning across both campuses. These resources support the work of the school across all subject areas as well as contributing to the enhancement of teaching and learning in languages.
Foreign Language Assistants
At present Hove Park School has two foreign language assistants. Guiling Ge is from China and supports the teaching of Chinese throughout the school. She also runs an after school Chinese club for students. Hove Park is the only state secondary school in Brighton and Hove to teach this language.
Jessica Luccarini is from Italy and she is the school’s Comenius Assistant. This means that she is funded by the EU. As a Comenius assistant Jessica works with students in several curriculum areas. Her oral abilities are used in language classes, (she speaks Italian, Spanish and German). She supports students in Food Technology, Geography and Drama. Jessica also works with partner primary schools, teaching her own language and culture.
European Day of Languages
On the last Friday of September Hove Park takes part in the European Day of Languages. We celebrate and raise awareness of other languages and cultures across the world, as well as highlighting the school’s important role in the community as a Specialist Language College.
In 2009 the whole of Year 10 took part in a series of workshops under the banner “Working with Languages". Eight key local businesses came to work with our students, helping them understand the importance of life-long language learning and how linguistic skills can be used in the local economy.
Awards Ceremony
Our first Language College Awards Ceremony was held in July 2009. Students across the school received certificates and prizes for their achievement and progress in language learning and for their work in promoting cultural awareness in the school community. The Mayor of Brighton, alongside other key members of the local community, took part in the prize-giving. Top prize-winners for 2009 were Ava Jenkins at Key Stage 3 for excellence in Italian and Daniell Osaya at Key Stage 4 for excellence in French.