The Ashcombe School as Language College
The Ashcombe School became a Language College in September 1998 and the bulk of the capital grant was used to create two language multi-media rooms with state-of-the-art facilities. The rooms have been used extensively by the Languages Department who have tried out different software and teaching techniques. As part of the project, we also installed a new backbone to our IT network linking our two buildings, designing it to upgrade our existing network and to allow for future expansion and upgrading, including NGfL input.
We are committed to sharing our experiences. Indeed, a key element of our bid was the creation of Dorking Schools Language Development Group, which has spread the specialist school’s benefits to the other secondary, special and primary schools in Dorking. These presentations will form part of our contribution to the Association of Language Learning (ALL) programme of events organised by the London Branch.
Downloadable documents about our work
http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/LangColl/docpack.htm
These include “Frequently asked questions”, “The Perfect MFL ICT lesson!”, sample record cards for commonly used CD-ROMS and a copy of this letter
http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang/index.htm
- Resources for students to use in lessons or for independent learning
- Resources for teachers to use with students and to assist in the preparation of activities
- Resources to help with the planning and management of MFL teaching
- Resources for Primary School teachers to use with pupils at KS 1/2 and to help prepare them for KS3
- Site map: Alphabetical list with direct links to resources
Opportunities available at the presentation
- Senior staff, language teachers and IT support staff will be available to answer questions, and there is an opportunity to see a class in action in the ICT room, and ask the pupils themselves!
- A representative from Eurotalk, publisher of modern language software, may be available for consultation
- Over 40 language CD-ROMS available to try
- See "Video-on-demand" and interactive quizzes in action
- See our VLE
- Receive a pack of documents explaining our work and including samples of the resources we have developed
- Try out authoring software
Please note that because of class sizes and numbers of delegates, lesson observations will be in the large multimedia rooms rather than in classrooms. However, techniques for data projector + laptop will be demonstrated during the morning seminar.
Please note that the presentations do not include discussions about putting together a bid for Language College status (we would strongly recommend the Specialist Schools Trust for this purpose). However, we hope that the experience will give schools a more informed approach to making a bid.
Language College Presentation Days
Get dates and more information
The ethos of the school is such that we wish to make our work, current and developing, accessible to our partners in the Dorking 'Family of Schools' and with other interested colleagues both in the UK and further afield. Therefore to promote information exchange and dissemination, we host a number of free Language College Presentations throughout the year.
Please note that we also do occasional "one off" days, such as days for teachers who are interested in teaching Chinese. For details; also see the presentations page.
Would you like to learn Mandarin Chinese? Read about our Chinese activities here...
International Business Week
The Language College and the Business Studies department hold an International Business Week each year. For more information, visit the Business Studies pages.
The Ashcombe in the media
The Ashcombe School has featured in a number of videos over the past few years. A selection can be seen in our Video Archive section
LinguaNet Forum
Visit the LinguaNet forum to join other MFL teachers in discussions about language teaching, resources, developments and events.