All students at Belle Vue Girls’ School will study a modern foreign language in years 7, 8,9 and 10. In years 7, 8, and 9 students have three lessons a week and in year 10 two lessons a week. At the end of year 10 the majority of students will sit their GCSE in either French, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu or Italian.
Students are allocated to a language based on the results of tests set during the first few days of year 7. Where possible, prior study, languages spoken at home, and student preference are also given consideration.
Students studying a language to GCSE will learn to communicate with other people in the language. They will find out how the language works and something about the countries and cultures where the language is spoken.

A GCSE in language will equip students with skills which will be useful in a range of careers. The ability to communicate clearly and confidently and to solve problems are highly valued by employers.

Year 11
From 2012 students will have a choice of paths to follow when they move into year 11:

• Students who are disappointed with their GCSE language result may choose to continue their studies in order to improve their grade.
• Students with a good grade may decide to follow a course which will prepare them for advanced study of the language.
• Some students who are happy with their performance in their language may wish to focus on other subject areas (e.g. literacy, numeracy or sciences) to improve their overall performance.

Post 16
We currently offer A Level French, Spanish, Urdu and Arabic in the Sixth Form. Students studying an A Level language will continue to develop their ability to communicate clearly and confidently with other people. They will develop a deeper understanding of how the language works and will begin to use it for a range of purposes.

Arabic for Beginners 1
Since becoming a Specialist Language College Belle Vue has developed close links with the Leeds University School of Lifelong Learning. Our Sixth Form students are offered the opportunity to follow the University’s Arabic for Beginners 1 course. On successful completion students receive 25 points towards a degree at the University. This popular course is also open to students from other neighbouring sixth forms and members of the local community.