Dartford Grammar School – Japanese Networking Event for Head Teachers

In association with the Japan Foundation, Dartford Grammar School for Boys would like to invite Head Teachers, school governors and members of the Senior Management team to a networking event in order to discuss and showcase the significance of the Japanese language as part of the Primary and Secondary curriculum. (Maximum of 2 free places per school)

Japanese was introduced at Dartford Grammar School in 1998 and was immediately popular. Over the next few years it became fully embedded in the curriculum and we now have 370 students throughout the school learning Japanese.  The enjoyment of Japanese learning has had a significant positive impact on the learning and success of other languages.  In 2015 Japanese became a compulsory subject for half of Year 7 (93 pupils) who will continue with Japanese until their GCSE in Year 11.  Therefore by 2020 there will be 450 Key Stage 3 and 4 Japanese learners and approximately 80 Key Stage 5 students studying Japanese at level 3.

It is a subject that is remarkably popular with our students, who are motivated by its fascinating traditions, youth culture and the artistic appeal of writing characters. As a direct result of their interest in, and commitment to Japanese, we have achieved between 96%-100% grade A*-C with our GCSE students over the last 10 years.

We would like to offer the opportunity to talk to a wider network of Head Teachers, Governors and members of senior management of schools who may be interested in taking Japanese up as an extra-curricular subject, introducing it to the curriculum, or further embedding it within the curriculum.  Therefore on the 2^nd November we would like to invite you to visit our school and participate in a programme of lesson observations, discussions and sharing of practical ideas about the provision of Japanese at your school.  We will cover implications for the curriculum resources and teacher supply.

If you would like to find out more about the transformational qualities of Japanese learning in a secondary or primary school, please email ksimpson@dartfordgrammarschool.org.uk to register your interest in this event.