Our aim as a department is to develop confident, enthusiastic and independent language learners who have a curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. We endeavour to provide students with the tools to produce spontaneous and complex language, with a focus on conversational skills.
Learning a language allows our students to broaden their cultural horizons. Through a challenging and ambitious curriculum our pupils develop their knowledge of Francophone and Hispanic cultures and traditions. In doing so, they become adventurous in their spoken and written work.
Language learning allows for our students to work collaboratively and encourages respect.
Students are split between French and Spanish at Key Stage 3. During this time students will have spent time working on their grammatical and critical thinking skills in preparation for the GCSE course. There is a clear focus on producing language which is relevant to the lives of our students. The programme of study we offer encourages students to be creative with their language and ‘have-a-go’. We believe this improves resilience and confidence.
Students are able to communicate effectively across time frames and manipulate basic structures. Students are also able to recognise some complex language.
We are fortunate to have the opportunity as MFL teachers to constantly hear the progress of our students. We ensure pupils receive valuable routine feedback verbally every lesson and run this alongside our written feedback. As our work interlinks through topics we find students are able to make rapid progress. High standards for literacy are essential and we often refer to topics being studied in English and other subjects in school.
Each module leads into an assessment covering the range of skills, as well as formatively assessed writing. We cover skills equally to ensure students have a balance between reading writing, speaking and listening skills.
Homework is either linked to the knowledge organiser (a summary of all the grammar and vocabulary) for the topic we are covering or is preparing for our ‘low-stakes’ vocabulary quizzes. All homework is set on SIMS and students normally have a week to complete.