Sabine Zimmermann

Hello, my name is Sabine and I teach German at Lady Hawkins School in Kington, Herefordshire, an Academy for KS3 and KS4. I am passionate about languages and teaching and have over 25 years’ experience in teaching German up to KS5. Previously I have been responsible for running a successful language department as Head of Modern Foreign Languages and I am now the lead teacher of German in a Communications Faculty.

My teaching and classroom practice is based on research evidence in cognitive science and metacognition. It involves building on prior knowledge whilst making sure that knowledge and learning activities don’t overburden students working memory. I believe in giving students clear aims and outcomes so that they can track their own progress. As language learning can be challenging in different ways, it is important that lessons reflect this to help learners of all abilities achieve.

I like to take language learning outside the classroom, and I am very keen to promote and foster contacts with others from different cultures and backgrounds in German speaking countries. As well as facilitating regular School exchange visits, I have also taken an active part in establishing and delivering Comenius projects across multi-curricular subject areas to give students the opportunity to discover the culture and life around the language they are learning.