All students are offered the opportunity to study a Modern Language from 1st year and currently French, Spanish or Italian can be studied as an option. All of these languages and European Studies are also taught as part of our Transition Year Programme. 

In the Modern Languages Department we aim:

• To create an atmosphere where pupils can learn in a secure environment in which mutual trust prevails between individuals and staff
• To treat all pupils equally and to engender respect for and interest in other cultures
• To foster an awareness of and appreciation for any other home or heritage languages spoken by our students
• To offer every pupil the opportunity to study a modern language
• To promote independent learning, an appreciation of language and how it works
• To help every pupil achieve their potential at all levels, at both Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle
• To address the three strands of the Modern Language curriculum – communicative competence, language awareness and intercultural awareness in our classes
• To integrate all the language skills in our classes – listening, reading, writing, spoken production and spoken interaction
• To be inclusive and cognizant of all students in the class and their different learning styles
• To raise awareness of career opportunities involving Languages

Subject Objectives:

As outlined in the Modern Languages Curriculum, our teaching aims to ensure basic Communicative Competence based on:

1. Meeting and getting to know people and maintaining social relations
2. Making plans and discussing future actions
3. Understanding, seeking and giving information on climate and weather
4. Coping with travel and transport
5. Buying goods and services
6. Dealing with emergencies
7. Facilitating, encouraging or impeding an action
8. Understanding and expressing feelings and attitude
9. Making a conversation
10. Engaging in discussion
11. Passing on messages

Language Awareness

1. Learning about language from material
2. Exploring meaning
3. relating language to attitude
4. Talking and writing about experiences in Modern Languages
5. Consulting reference material

Intercultural Awareness

1. Learning about present day culture in countries where the target language is spoken
2. Reading modern literary texts
3. Describing and discussing everyday life in countries where the target language is spoken
4. Understanding, describing and discussing in general terms issues that transcend cultural differences.
5. Understanding, describing and discussing aspects of relations between other European countries and Ireland.