[lg policy] International School of Athens: Foreign Language Policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Monday, December 10, 2012
RE: ISA Foreign Language Policy

Dear Parents,

In our continuous effort to enrich our school’s curricula, our
commitment to internationalism and, at the same time, provide our
students with additional tools which they will be able to use in their
future endeavors, we would like to inform you that our students will
have the opportunity to sit external and internationally recognized
examinations for the acquisition of different level certificates in
the foreign language that they study at the school.

Therefore, we are in the pleasant position to inform you that our
students, from grade 7 onwards, following classes in Spanish, French
and German will be prepared and able to sit for the respective
certificates in the foreign language that they are studying at school,
namely:

DELF Diplôme d'Etudes en Langue Française (Diploma of French as a
Foreign Language)
DELE Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (Diploma of Spanish as
a Foreign Language)
DEUTCH Goethe-Zertifikat (Diploma of German as a Foreign Language)

The tests exist in six levels, each corresponding to a specific level
described by the“Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages”, namely:

A1 (Beginners) and A2 (Elementary) for the Basic User,
B1 (Intermediate) and B2 (Upper Intermediate) for the Independent User, and
C1 (Advanced) and C2 (Mastery) for the Proficient User.

Similarly, we pride ourselves in our very successful student
preparation for receiving the Certificate of Attainment in Modern
Greek (Πιστοποίηση Ελληνομάθειας) initiated in our school 12 years
ago, from grade 8 onwards, with consistent excellent results. We are
certain that this success will continue, especially, with the
enhancement of the Modern Greek curriculum in our Kindergarten and
Primary school programmes by offering Modern Greek on a daily basis.

Moreover, since English is the instructional and working language of
the school, our students would be very well prepared to sit an
external exam for a certificate in English from the ones below:

FCE First Certificate in English (Cambridge)
CAE Certificate in Advanced English (Cambridge)
CPE Certificate of Proficiency in English (Cambridge)

Finally, we feel that by offering foreign languages to our students
from as early as grade 1, they will be well prepared by the time they
reach Middle School to sit an examination for the language that they
are studying at school. To this end, as of next academic year, we will
enrich our Modern Greek Language Programme in the Kindergarten and
will extend our existing Primary School Foreign Language Programme to
grades 1-3 by allowing our younger students to experience the
acquisition of French, German or Spanish during the academic day, for
two periods a week. In so doing, we are confident that all our
students from K-12 will be better prepared academically, and will
exhibit a cultural tolerance, essential to their contributions as
citizens of the world.

Sincerely,

The Steering Committee*
*Spiros Molfetas, Director
Chris Tragas, Assistant Director
Arthur Kattavenos, High School Principal
Rena Deriziotis, Middle School Principal
Louise Kalokerinou, Primary School Principal
Helga Barry, Early Years Principal
Gina Thanopoulou, Director of Centre for Counseling and Learning Services
Nick Pournaras, IB coordinator, University Placement Advisor

-- 
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