German Department – live lessons with ‘Evangelisches Gymnasium’

Grosvenor pupils Grace Dugan and Erin Young with their German exchange partners during the School’s most recent trip to Lippstadt, in September 2019.

Whilst the online learning environment has undoubtedly presented many challenges, it also offers unprecedented access to those native speakers currently learning a language - suddenly it is easy, for instance, to invite pupils from our German partner school, ‘Evangelisches Gymnasium’ in Lippstadt, to interact with Grosvenor pupils in class.

This week a Year 11 GCSE German class was joined by Lina Böhme and Otto Eling, from a rather snowy Lippstadt. Lina and Otto were able to discuss the topic of ‘Daily Routine and Household Chores’, which is currently being studied by Year 11 pupils. In Year 12, meanwhile, Lisa Bertram and Elisa Wagner were invited by their Exchange partners, Grace Dugan and Erin Young, into their GCSE class and contributed to a very valuable discussion about school life in Germany - the topic currently being studied by the class.  

Plans are also underway to hold a debate during the week after half-term, in a joint online lesson composed of A level pupils from Grosvenor and the EG. Depending on how long lockdown lasts, the potential for authentic interaction with native speakers seems vast and will hopefully be exploited further, in order to benefit our pupils.