Oakham Welcomes New Language Assistants

The Oakham School community has welcomed seven new language assistants who will spend the next academic year helping our students improve their fluency in French, German and Spanish.

Carla, Clara and Jacob have joined the Spanish Department, Remi, Julie and Justine will be helping students of French, and Jessica will be supporting the German Department.

Hailing from different parts of the French, German and Spanish speaking world, – from Lille to Lyon, northern Spain to easter Germany and even as far away as Mexico – Oakham’s new language assistants bring a wealth of language and cultural knowledge to enrich the School community.

Head of Languages, Ed Milner, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new language assistants to the School.

“We are very proud of the range of opportunities and activities we offer as a department to bring languages to life and our language assistants are instrumental in helping with this.

“With around 150 pupils taking a GCSE language and 60 pupils opting to continue their study of languages post-16, our language assistants provide invaluable assistance helping our students prepare for the speaking part of their exams through regular conversation classes.

“They also help run cultural events and activities throughout the year for the Modern Languages Society.

“We hope that they have an enjoyable year with us and take advantage of all that Oakham School has to offer.”

The new language assistants are already enjoying making a contribution to the Oakham School community, most recently performing at the inaugural Open Mic night held in The Odd House.

So far everyone is settling in well. Jessica from Dresden in eastern Germany said: “Oakham is a nice, quiet town, and everyone here is so friendly!

Justine from Toulouse said: “Oakham is very charming and peaceful. I feel like I am in a very authentic British town.”

Jacob from Mexico said: “To me Oakham is like home. People have helped me a lot here.

“I have noticed that not only the school focuses on the academic aspects but to create a community where everyone matters and encourages teamworking, self-realization and appreciation for diversity.”

Read our blog to find out more about our language assistants, where they are from, their first impressions of Oakham and what they are looking forward to experiencing this year.