Modern Foreign Languages
Learning a language liberates us from insularity: we therefore want to equip our students with a window into a world which is not their own and thereby assist in the avoidance of prejudice and intolerance. Language learning helps students become local and global citizens.
We want all students to be able to produce the target language spontaneously for a range of purposes: transactional, communicative and in some cases academic. We also want students to maintain these language skills for the rest of their lives. For KS5 learners, we want our students to aim for bilingualism and so benefit from the multiple advantages associated with it. For all learners (including KS4 and KS3) we want them to enjoy and understand the inextricable link between language and culture. We wish to equip all learners for their transition to their next stage of learning via a curriculum enriched in opportunities to practise vocabulary, grammar, phonics and themes related to the world around them.
KS2
Students will learn and develop vocabulary, grammatical skills, phonics and introductory content. The purpose will be to introduce students to the concept that other languages are spoken and that they are learnable. We want lessons to be engaging and prepare students for KS3 by enabling them to understand basic MFL concepts such as: gender of nouns, adjectival agreement, verb conjugation, tu and vous. This will aid transition to KS3 regardless of the language.
KS3
Students will learn, develop and build on grammatical skills developed in KS2 although since students come from different feeder schools we also re-teach introductory content. Students gain knowledge of describing themselves and discussing how they interact with the world around them.
In Spanish this includes
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Food, school, home, free time, travel, TV, clothes, health, jobs, technology and environment as well as Hispanic America and the Spanish civil war.
In French this includes
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Food, school, time, home, free time and TV, travel, health, jobs and technology as well as a case study of Paris and music.
Students will be ready for transition to KS4 because they will have learned to refer to the future, past and present as well themes that appear at KS4. Enrichment will include Spanish language telenovelas club, literary texts and advanced grammar activities for native speakers.
KS4
Students will learn, develop and build on grammatical skills developed in KS3 although since students have different starting points and ‘prior learning’ we plan for regular retrieval practice. Students will develop knowledge of describing themselves and discussing how they interact with the world around them.
In Spanish this includes
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Food, school, home, free time, travel, TV, clothes, health, jobs, technology and environment as well as Hispanic America and the Spanish civil war
In French this includes
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Food, school, time, home, free time and TV, travel, health, jobs and technology as well as a case study of Paris and music.
Students will be ready for transition to KS5 because higher tier students will have learned to refer to all time frames including 3rd person verbs as well as the subjunctive mood. Enrichment will include literary texts and advanced grammar activities for native speakers. We will also aim to take students on an educational visit in Y10 to a target language country. Weekly enrichment clubs take place and students are invited to attend based on data.
KS5
Students will learn, develop and build on grammatical skills developed in KS4 and spend the first term consolidating KS4 grammar via poetry as well grammatical tasks; however, we assume a starting point of at least a GCSE grade 7. We expect students to be able to transition to undergraduate study so we share detailed plans of learning that they should be completing outside of classroom time including how to complete an individual research project. Students move away from the egocentric model from KS3/4 towards being able to analyse and evaluate themes from the Spanish and French speaking world.
In Spanish this includes
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Modern and traditional values, Cyberspace, Equal rights, Immigration, Racism, Integration, Modern day idols, Spanish regional identity, Cultural heritage, Today's youth, tomorrow's citizens, Monarchies and dictatorship, Popular movements
In French this includes
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The changing nature of family, The ‘cyber-society’, The place of voluntary work, Positive features of a diverse society, Life for the marginalised, How criminals are treated, A culture proud of its heritage, Contemporary francophone music, Cinema: the 7th art form, Teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment, Demonstrations, strikes – who holds the power? Politics and immigration
Students will be ready for transition to university (in any academic discipline) because they will have developed an ability to think independently and to demonstrate knowledge and understanding. The independent research project will provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their burgeoning bilingualism in a relevant academic topic which is evidence of the students having achieved a degree of fluency.
