Welcome to the MFL Department
Introduction
The study of Languages enables pupils to gain wide-ranging communication skills and an appreciation of different cultures.
At Key Stage 3 pupils study French in Year 7 for three 50-minute lessons per week. In Year 8, top set students take on the additional study of Spanish as a second foreign language. They divide their time up equally between French and Spanish (2 lessons of each). All other students have 4 lessons of French or 3 lessons of French and 1 lesson of Literacy. In Year 9 pupils either study 3 lessons of Spanish a week or 3 lessons of French a week. Some students have 1 lesson of French a week and receive additional tuition in Literacy and Numeracy.
At Key Stage 4, depending on previous study, pupils can opt to take French or Spanish at GCSE. Pupils have three 50-minute lessons of their GCSE language per week. Pupils can opt to study both Spanish and French over 2 option blocks.
The department has five classrooms with one room which includes an IT suite specifically for use in Languages lessons. All of the classrooms have interactive facilities.
The department offers a variety of extra-curricular experiences including two very popular immersion trips to Normandy (Year 8) and Murcia (Year 9). Every year the Languages department runs a Spelling Bee for Year 7 students, the winners of which are then entered into a regional competition. In recent years we have had multiple competitors representing the school at the national finals.
Head of Department: Mr N Tierney
Key Stage 3 Curriculum Map
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Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
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Year 7 |
Self |
Family |
School |
School |
House |
House |
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Year 8 |
Leisure |
Home Town / Invitations |
Food |
Media |
Media |
Illness |
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Year 9 |
Un jour de conge |
Holidays |
Holidays / Education |
Education |
Environment / GCSE Grammar |
GCSE Grammar Booster |
Summative Assessments
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Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
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Year 7 |
Baseline- Reading |
Listening |
Reading/Writing |
Listening/ Translation |
End of Year Summative/ Speaking |
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Year 8 |
Reading |
Writing |
Listening |
End of Year Summative/ Speaking |
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Year 9 |
Writing |
Listening/ Reading/ Translation |
Writing |
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Key Stage 4 Curriculum Map
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Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
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Year 10 |
Self & Family |
Holidays |
New Technology |
Free Time |
Free Time |
Healthy Living |
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Year 11 |
School |
Future Plans |
Home and Local Area/ Environment |
Social Issues/ Charity |
Revision |
Revision |
Summative assessments
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Autumn 1 |
Autumn 2 |
Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
Summer 1 |
Summer 2 |
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Year 10 |
Reading |
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Speaking |
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Mock Exam – All Skills (L/R/S/W) |
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Year 11 |
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Mock Exam – All Skills (L/R/S/W) |
Writing |
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GCSE Exams |
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Spanish
Year 8:
"Me Presento" (About Me), Family, School, Where I Live
Year 9:
Free Time, Food and Drink, Holidays, New Technology, Customs and Festivals
Year 10:
Family and Relationships, New Technology, Holidays, Healthy Living
Year 11:
House and Home and Local Area, Social and Global Issues (Environment), School and Future Plans
Link to specifications
Pupils follow the AQA Languages 9-1 syllabus. This course covers the topic areas mentioned above and tests pupils on the skills of listening, reading, speaking, writing and translation.
More information can be found here - French; Spanish; German
Revision guides and study books have been published for the new GCSE specification. Details are as follows:
French Revision Guide - ISBN 9781292131429
French Revision Workbook - ISBN 9781292131351
Spanish Revision Guide - ISBN 9781292131443
Spanish Revision Workbook - ISBN 9781292131412
German Revision Guide - ISBN 9781292131436
German Revision Workbook - ISBN 9781292131382
Useful Links
www.kerboodle.com – password protected
On this website pupils can access the online textbook that we follow in school. It offers a wide range of assessment and interactive activities in all skill areas. It is particularly useful for listening and reading practice.
www.textivate.com – password protected
Pupils can use this website to revise vocabulary (KS3 & 4) and to participate in Textivate vocabulary challenges which are set by teachers. KS4 pupils can use a different facility on this website to help them commit their conversation questions to memory.
This is the exam board website which includes teaching and learning materials, past papers and specimen papers.
There are not many past papers for the current GCSE specification so students are also directed to this website where they can complete Listening/Reading past papers from the previous specifications.
Students can use this website to discover a wide range of vocabulary in the language that they study. Teachers will assign specific vocabulary for the students to practise and this can be done on a desktop computer or on a tablet or phone via the Memrise app.
Updated: Dec 2021
