Modern foreign languages
German
head of department: Miss C Byrne
Languages are the key to unlocking new worlds. Not only do you learn about other cultures and current affairs in other countries but languages equip you with the ability to communicate with lots of new and interesting people. German is one of the most commonly used languages in the EU and German speakers across the world are sought after by a wide range of successful businesses and organisations. German is also spoken in Austria, Switzerland and other parts of Europe which are desirable travel destinations.
Learning languages also provides you with many transferable skills such as better communication skills, improved confidence and problem solving skills, better memory retention and improved literacy in your own language.
Curriculum Intent
The German curriculum is sequenced carefully so that pupils learning is interleaved and they are constantly building on previous knowledge. We start with the simple sentences in year 7 but by the end of year 11, pupils are both understanding and producing extended writing on various topics. By the end of Key Stage 4, pupils will also be able to understand and hold conversations in German on a range of topics. The main topics covered are free time, family and relationships, holidays, school and work, the environment and world issues, technology and your local area. Pupils will be able to speak and write using at least three tenses: the past, the future and the present. Some will be able to use up to 8 tenses confidently. They will be able to converse relatively fluently on the above.
Key stage 3
In Year 7, if your pupil is in forms 7.1 – 7.5 they will study German alongside Spanish. At the end of Year 7, pupils will indicate their preferred language to study until GCSE or A Level. You can see the topics that are studied in KS3 by clicking on the link below:
Teaching is always varied but structured. Pupils are taught using a range of different materials and methods, allowing every type of learner to access the curriculum.
Key Stage 4
In Key Stage 4, pupils will study 8 topics which are mentioned in the curriculum intent above. They will be challenging themselves to understand language at near native speed and will now be able to hold relatively fluent conversations on a wide range of topics. You can see the topics that are studied in KS4 by clicking on the link below:
Teaching continues to be varied, allowing pupils to develop their four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening, which will all be assessed at the end of the year in four different exams which are all worth 25% of their end grade. There is no coursework component the GCSE.
Key Stage 5
German students follow the Edexcel syllabus for the new AS course.
We regularly have pupils who opt to take a language at A level. Pupils continue to develop their language skills at Key Stage 5, by studying a range of interesting topics often linked to current affairs where they are required to analyse material, form personal judgements in order to debate and argue points of view. They are required to do more independent research in addition to using the course materials.
For an overview of the KS5 structure please click here.
The MFL Marking Policy can be found here for information.
Enrichment
German pupils have a range of extra and co curricular activities available to them. Every half term we run a language culture club which focuses on different aspects of the German culture such as food, film and art. We have also organised cultural trips to the Klimt exhibition in London. Before Covid, pupils visited Cologne for a two day cultural and educational tour. During this trip, pupils visited the traditional Christmas markets giving them an opportunity to order food and drink in German and we took a tour of the spectacular cathedral. We are hoping to have a trip similar to this back up by next year when the prices will be more manageable.
Pupils are given a range of websites to work from to improve their language skills such as wordwall, quizlet, duolingo and textivate to name a few. There is also a wide range of reading material available in the MFL office for those wishing to extend their reading skills.
Next Steps
German is an excellent subject to study at A level and later on at university. The skills you learn at A level are diverse ranging from problem solving, to code breaking, to analysis, debating and communication. There is currently a shortage of German speakers in the UK and many big cooperations and organisations are consistently seeking people with these skills to take on a vast range of roles. German and other languages compliment many other fields so you even if you wanted to take the medical route for example, studying this with German will widen your opportunities and enrich your cultural experiences.
french
head of department: Miss L Grandjean
Languages are the key to unlocking new worlds. Not only do you learn about other cultures and current affairs in other countries but languages equip you with the ability to communicate with lots of new and interesting people. French is the 5th global language and is spoken on all continents. It is the 2nd most used language in diplomacy, the 3rd most used language in business and the 4th most used language on the internet.
Learning languages also provides you with many transferable skills such as better communication skills, improved confidence and problem solving skills, better memory retention and improved literacy in your own language.
Curriculum Intent
The French curriculum was created to help students build a strong foundation and deep understanding of the language. Grammar and vocabulary are constantly revisited so that pupils can build on previous knowledge and extend their range of understanding. Pupils are offered appropriate support and challenged in order to help them gain a better command of their spoken and written language. We start with simple sentences in year 7 but by the end of year 11, pupils are both understanding and producing extended texts on various topics. By the end of Key Stage 4, pupils will also be able to understand and hold conversations in French on a range of topics. The main topics covered will be family and relationships, holidays, school and work, the environment and world issues, technology and your local area. Pupils will be able to speak and write using at least three time frames: the past, the future and the present. Some will be able to use 6 tenses confidently. They will be able to converse relatively fluently on the above.
Key stage 3
In Key Stage 3, half of the Year 7 cohort (Y half – from .5 to .9) study French and another language (Spanish). At the end of the year, they will indicate which language they would prefer to study from Year 8. You can see the topics that are studied in KS3 by clicking on the link below:
KS3 French Curriculum Overview
Teaching is always varied but structured. Pupils are taught using a range of different materials and methods, allowing every type of learner to access the curriculum.
Key Stage 4
In Key Stage 4, pupils will study 8 topics which are mentioned in the curriculum intent above. They will be challenging themselves to understand language at near native speed and will now be able to hold relatively fluent conversations on a wide range of topics. You can see the topics that are studied in KS4 by clicking on the link below:
KS4 French Curriculum Overview
Teaching continues to be varied, allowing pupils to develop their four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening, which will all be assessed at the end of the year in four different exams which are all worth 25% of their end grade. There is no coursework component the GCSE.
Key Stage 5
French students follow the Edexcel syllabus for the new AS course.
We regularly have pupils who opt to take a language at A level. Pupils continue to develop their language skills at Key Stage 5, by studying a range of interesting topics often linked to current affairs where they are required to analyse material, form personal judgements in order to debate and argue points of view. They are required to do more independent research in addition to using the course materials.
You can see the topics that are studied in KS4 by clicking on the link below: KS5 French curriculum overview
The MFL Marking Policy can be found here for information.
Enrichment
The French pupils have a range of extra-curricular options. There is a monthly on line cooking class where pupils learn to cook both French and Spanish food using the target language to better their cooking skills and their fluency in French. The department has strong links with French schools and students have been writing letters to French students. Before Covid, KS4 pupils were able to visit Paris, meet French pupils and visit their school. We are currently working to organise a trip for our KS3 pupils to France for 5 days. Our KS5 students are also completing a 7-day work experience in France this Spring where they will work with different companies and live with French families. Pupils are given diverse websites to work from to improve their language skills such as EasyFrench on youtube, wordwall, quizlet, memrise, etc. There is also a wide range of reading and viewing material available in the department for any pupil who is looking for further practice.
Next Steps
French is an excellent subject to study at A level and later on at university. The skills you learn at A level will be diverse ranging from problem solving, to code breaking, to analysis and communication. The ability to speak more than one language is always looked at very favourably by employers and can be a great asset to any career, but particularly in finance, higher education, translating, law, and any career where travel would be a possibility.
Spanish
head of department: Miss B Abrahams
Languages are the key to unlocking new worlds. Not only do you learn about other cultures and current affairs in other countries, but languages equip you with the ability to communicate with lots of new and interesting people. Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and learning Spanish will open up travel and work opportunities in, not only Spain but, the majority of South America.
Learning languages also provides you with many transferable skills such as better communication skills, improved confidence and problem-solving skills, better memory retention and improved literacy in your own language.
Curriculum Intent
The Spanish curriculum is such that pupils learning is interleaved so they are constantly building on previous knowledge and extended their range of understanding. We start with the simple sentences in year 7 but by the end of year 11, pupils are both understanding and producing extended texts on various topics. By the end of Key Stage 4, pupils will also be able to understand and hold conversations in Spanish on a range of topics. The main topics covered will be family and relationships, holidays, school and work, the environment and world issues, technology and your local area. Pupils will be able to speak and write using at least three tenses: the past, the future and the present. Some will be able to use 8 tenses confidently. They will be able to converse relatively fluently on the above.
Key stage 3
In Key Stage 3, all pupils study Spanish in year 7 and then will indicate their preferred language (Spanish or German/French depending of their form class) for Y8, Y9 and KS4. You can see the topics that are studied in KS3 by clicking on the link below:
KS3 Spanish Curriculum Overview
Teaching is always varied but structured. Pupils are taught using a range of different materials and methods, allowing every type of learner to access the curriculum.
Key Stage 4
In Key Stage 4, pupils will study 8 topics which are mentioned in the curriculum intent above. They will be challenging themselves to understand language at near native speed and will now be able to hold relatively fluent conversations on a wide range of topics. You can see the topics that are studied in KS4 by clicking on the link below:
KS4 Spanish Curriculum Overview
Teaching continues to be varied, allowing pupils to develop their four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening, which will all be assessed at the end of the year in four different exams which are all worth 25% of their end grade. There is no coursework component the GCSE.
Enrichment
The Spanish pupils have a range of extra-curricular options. There is a monthly online cooking class where pupils learn to cook both Spanish and French food using the target language to better their cooking skills and their fluency in Spanish. We have also organised cultural trips to the National Gallery where pupils have compared art by Spanish painters such as Picasso, Velazquez and many more. Before Covid, pupils visited Malaga for a five-day cultural and educational tour. We are hoping to have this back up by next year when the prices will be more manageable. Pupils are given diverse websites to work from to improve their language skills such as Easy Spanish on YouTube, Wordwall, Quizlet, Duolingo, to name a few. There is also a wide range of reading material available in LO1 for any pupil who is looking for further stimulation.
Next Steps
Spanish is an excellent subject to study at A level and later on at university. The skills you learn at A level will be diverse, ranging from problem solving, to code breaking, to analysis and communication. The ability to speak more than one language is always looked at very favourably by employers and can be a great asset to any career, but particularly in finance, higher education, translating, law, and any career where travel would be a possibility.