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Head of MFL selected to become German Expert Mentor at Goethe-Institut

We are delighted to share the incredible success of our Head of Modern Foreign Languages, Frau Butterfield. After a rigorous selection process, Frau Butterfield has been selected to become a German Expert Mentor (GEM) with the Goethe-Institut, alongside just 28 other German teachers from across the UK, Sweden and The Netherlands. 

What is the Goethe-Institut?

The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s cultural institute, operating worldwide. The main goal of the organisation is to promote knowledge of the German language abroad and foster international cultural cooperation. They offer opportunities such as learning the German language from highly qualified teachers, using first-class learning materials, supplying courses for all levels, and the chance to gain internationally recognised language certificates.

What is a German Expert Mentor?

This highly respected role consists of providing professional training and support to language teachers in the UK, strengthening existing languages programmes and building new capacity so that students are able to access high quality language education in German and connect with the German-speaking world.

Training in Berlin

Frau Butterfield visited Berlin earlier this week for the first stage of face-to-face training for the programme, attending four days of workshops. She said: ‘I am currently undergoing training both online and in person with the Goethe-Institut fellow GEMs. Last weekend, I was privileged to take part in the first stage of training in Berlin.

‘This was a wonderful opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences in teaching German across Europe, share resources and ideas and be immersed in German.’

We are very much looking forward to seeing Frau Butterfield progress in this role, enabling our school to gain insights into the similarities and differences in German teaching across Europe, share best practice and implement this into our school curriculum.