School

General Information

About our school

The School started in 1864 when the Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in Norwich to teach their first seven students. From this small beginning the school has grown into the present 11-18 specialist Language College of 1,230 students, 330 of whom are in the sixth form. The school was awarded specialist school status for Languages in September 2000.
The school is seeking to build links within the community of Norwich and the wider area it serves.
Language classes for immigrant women and families are held in the evenings, and it is hoped that these will be extended to become a full partnership with the languages department of the Adult Education centre at Wensum Lodge. Local companies, such as Norwich Union, have expressed interest in using the Language College facilities for training their own staff in learning French, German, Spanish and Russian. At times during the Summer Term some local Middle and Junior Schools take the opportunity to bring their students to sample the interactive language learning software in the Modern Foreign Languages multimedia room, where they are able to enjoy a 'hands-on' lesson.

About our partnership

Notre Dame High School became involved in the Our Languages project in summer 2008. The school aims to use the project to establish Polish language teaching facilities for the community and position itself as a model community languages school to liaise with, and offer advice to, other local schools. The students attending Notre Dame High School will be given the opportunity to, not only prepare for their GCSE exams, but also to maintain their mother tongue and take pride in it. The school thinks that it is crucially important to encourage children to retain the language and culture of their country of origin and assure them that these qualities are appreciated.