MFL

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Our aim is to broaden pupils’ horizons and encourage them to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries and develop new ways of seeing the world. Our teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

Pupils should develop a competency that is both broad and deep in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing based on a sound foundation of core grammar, vocabulary and phonics. They should also be able to understand and communicate personal and factual information that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy.

Critical learning, high frequency language and key communicative functions are revisited receptively and productively many times as we progress through the curriculum. For example when learning how to describe activities done on a past holiday in French/German, we need to revisit previous teaching on how to conjugate the verbs ‘avoir and être’/’haben and sein’ in all forms.’ In Spanish, when talking about food and drink and using the idiom ‘tener hambre/sed’ we need to revisit the present tense of the irregular verb ‘tener’.

Our ultimate goal with our pupils is to develop their ability to be self-efficacious and to create the optimal conditions for learner success.

Intent ​

We aspire to expose our pupils to a broad and ambitious Modern Languages curriculum, which is rich in skills and knowledge, develops self-efficacy, kindles curiosity and promotes diversity and tolerance of other cultures. Our Modern Languages curriculum will give pupils the opportunity to: ​

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Key Stage 3 ​

Students will develop language acquisition in all four skill areas with emphasis on communication, progress, independence and enjoyment. They will be given every opportunity to develop a deeper insight into other civilisations and cultures. They will be encouraged to work on their own, in pairs and in groups. An awareness of the importance of IT will be fostered. ​

Students study language through a range of contexts which include themselves and their home, family, school, local area and free time. ​

Key Stage 4 ​
Students will follow the AQA GCSE Specification. Listening 25%, Reading 25%, Writing 25% and Speaking 25% – it is 100% exam based. Students have 3 lessons per week and should spend at least 1 hour per week on homework and reviewing/acquiring vocabulary and structures. ​

Students will be provided with a wide range of materials to develop and extend their language expertise in the areas of speaking, reading and listening. Students will be given the opportunity to develop their proficiency in a variety of written skills. Students will learn how to organise their own work and develop skills and proficiency in the language.  ​

There are three full time members of staff working in the MFL department. All staff teach both French and Spanish. We are also joined by two Modern Language Assistants – these are students from France and Spain who work with our students giving them access to the language and culture first hand. ​

​Meet The Team.

Mrs L Wenn – Head of MFL ​

Mrs F Shah – Leader teacher of MFL ​

Mrs E Hewitt – Teacher of French and Spanish ​

Miss N Soufflet – French assistant ​

Mr K Hernandez – Spanish assistant ​