Modern Foreign Languages

Bonjour! Hola!We are a friendly and supportive team who strive to ensure that the language learning experience is a positive one for all students, whatever their ability. We work hard to pass on our love of languages and benefits of learning about other cultures and communicating with speakers of other languages. We believe that learning a language is an important skill that everyone should have and a skill that is becoming essential in the workplace.

A great way to start getting to know and understand other people better is by learning their language. It’s a multilingual world – not everyone speaks English. 94% of the world’s population does not speak English as their first language. 75% of the world does not speak English at all.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum information
Ay KS3, lessons are based around pupil participation with a well-balanced and carefully planned mixture of activities that allow pupils to develop all four skills for language learning (speaking, listening, reading and writing) as well as assess their own and each other’s progress. Most importantly, we want pupils to enjoy their language learning and leave our lessons having made progress and with a smile on their faces.

On arriving in Year 7, students will learn either French or Spanish and will continue this language through to Year 9. At the end of Year 8, students have the opportunity to pick up a second language be it French or Spanish as part of the options’ process.

The curriculum from Year 7 through to Year 11 has been created and thought through to enable pupils to develop skills and linguistic competence within a range of common topic areas and is structured around the expectations of the GCSE course.

Key Stage 4 Curriculum information
Students are taught in mixed groups and cover the following topics at both higher and foundation level:

Identity and Culture - Who am I?, Daily Life, Cultural Life
Local area, holiday and travel - Holidays, Travel and Tourist Transactions, Town, Region and Country
School - What School is Like, School Activities
Future Aspirations, Study and Work - Using Languages Beyond the Classroom, Ambitions, Work
International and Global Dimension - Bringing the World Together, Environmental Issues

Assessment
Students can currently take either French and/or Spanish at Key Stage Four and we use Edexcel as our exam board. Students who speak additional languages are also able to take a GCSE in this language also.

At the end of every unit, students will complete an end of unit test in all four skills (listening/reading/writing/speaking) as per the expectations of the GCSE exam as well as a translation and grammar based task. This will identify any areas of concerns for students to focus on either in future lessons or as part of home-learning.

At the end of Year 11, students are assessed in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing and breaks down in the following proportions:

Listening (25%)
Reading (25%)
Speaking (25)
Writing (25%)

The GCSE course is 100% exam based and does not include any controlled assessment or coursework. Pupils will be entered terminally at either Foundation or Higher Level and the level at which pupils are entered is based on progress during the course.

Careers in Modern Foreign Languages
Languages can of course be used in language specific careers such as teaching, translating or interpreting but they are also useful in many jobs from reception to top level management or a professional footballer and can often by the deciding factor between candidates as well as in business trades where more and more companies are trading abroad with link companies. As well as being useful for work, travel and tourism, a language can also help to improve literacy and gain an insight into other cultures and traditions around the world.