Department of Education Visits Derwent Language Hub
After a wonderful visit by the Department of Education to Littleover Community School, NCLE Specialist Teacher and Head of German Dawn Piper shared an overview of the day.
“On Tuesday 24th September, Derwent Language Hub at Littleover Community School were delighted to host the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Education and nearly 250 civil servants in a virtual visit.
The morning began with an inspiring introduction to the school led by Caroline Spalding, Deputy Headteacher and Hub Lead. Caroline drew attention to the school’s diverse community, where over 50 different languages are spoken and celebrated. She then highlighted the school’s new mural, commissioned by a local Derby artist to commemorate 75 years of Littleover Community School. The artwork incorporates the words ‘learning’, ‘caring’ and ‘succeeding’ in the top five home languages of Littleover’s students to reflect the ethos of inclusion and promote a feeling of belonging.
This was followed by lesson observations in which NCLE Specialist Teachers Dawn Piper and Krista Revell showcased best practice with Key Stage 3 French and German classes. Amongst the activities, students were engaged with phonics, speaking and grammar challenges and drawing similarities and differences between a range of other languages whilst using interactive technology.
Members of the Department of Education were very complimentary about the GCSE and A level student panel who enthusiastically described their positive experiences of learning languages at the school. This included trips abroad, opportunities to enter GCSEs in other languages as well as the importance they place upon learning languages to support their future ambitions.
The visit ended with an interview with Krista and Dawn detailing the curriculum offer at Littleover and the inclusive culture of the learning environment, where every learner is seen as a language learner throughout their educational journey and beyond.”
Littleover Community School’s mural, created by a local artist features the words ‘learning’, ‘caring’ and ‘succeeding’ in the top five home languages spoken by Littleover pupils.