The Piggott School offers four languages to Year 7 pupils and they are allocated to two of these. All pupils study French, plus one of either Mandarin Chinese, German or Spanish.
Pupils who are placed in the Chinese classes will initially study the language for two years, with the option of continuing on to GCSE at the end of Year 8.
As Mandarin Chinese is such a different language to the other European languages offered, the language department is asking parents to advise us if they would like their child to be considered for this subject. Should demand for the subject be very high, we may also need to liaise with the current primary schools to seek recommendations on the suitability of candidates. Students selected for this opportunity need to be high achievers in both English and Maths. They also need to show an aptitude for languages and be actively interested in studying Chinese.
We are only able to offer Chinese to approximately 20 students per year group and are therefore unable to guarantee a place for every student. Please also be aware that studying Chinese requires a significantly greater commitment than for each of the European languages.
The Piggott School is part of the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP), delivered by the UCL Institute of Education in partnership with the British Council. The MEP is an intensive language programme that since 2016 has helped more than 5000 school pupils in England to get on track to fluency in Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is recognised as one of the most important languages for the UK’s future. To find out more about the MEP, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/school-resources/languages/mandarin-celebration
If you would be keen for your child to be considered for studying Chinese once they join The Piggott School in Year 7, please complete the below short form.
Please only complete the below form if you wish your child to study Chinese. You do not need to do anything if you do not wish your child to study Mandarin.
Please complete the below no later than Tuesday 7th June 2022
