Introduction
Learning a language is incredibly rewarding, challenging and fun.
Learning a language can help to improve social skills, communication and confidence and makes you more open-minded to other people and cultures.
Language learning promotes tolerance and understanding. The ability to understand and communicate in other languages is a fundamental skill for all citizens.
Languages may also support future studies as well as improving your employment potential.
Intent
All students in year 7 and 8 study French and Spanish. At Churchmead we believe that languages are accessible for all, as they are key to communication within the global community. During lessons, exercises are differentiated to meet the needs of every pupil so that they have the opportunity to get involved, have fun and make progress.
Throughout the MFL curriculum, our students will develop their ability not only communicate in the target language, but also gain an understanding of the different cultures and identities associated with modern foreign languages.
Throughout their languages journey, we will develop our students’ listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. They will be encouraged to develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently with a native speaker.
Our vision in the MFL department is to enable all our students to be confident, culturally savvy, resilient and articulate language learners. Modern foreign languages inspire our students to be curious, ambitious and independent individuals who can apply languages in all aspects of life, from travel to work.
The textbooks we are using to support students learning are:
French: Dynamo 1, Dynamo 2, AQA GCSE French
Spanish: Claro 1, Claro 2, AQA GCSE Spanish
All of our Spanish textbooks are available online via Kerboodle and Dynamo is available on Pearson Active learn.
In addition to our textbooks, we use several web sites to enrich learning: Kerboodle, sentence builders, Pearson Active learn, BBC Bitesize
Implementation
KS3 French
Pupils are in mixed ability sets with regular assessments and feedback to make sure that progression is made each term. Students develop their language across the four assessed skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing.
At KS3 we use electronic textbooks:
French: Dynamo 1 and Dynamo 2 with differentiated tasks. Students can access both books on line on Pearson Active learn
Spanish: Claro 1 and Claro 2 with differentiated tasks. Students can access both books online on Kerboodle.
Topics studied:
| French | Spanish |
| Year 7 | Year 7 |
|
Introduce yourself: physical description and your personality Numbers and alphabet School and opinions about subjects Sports and hobbies Description of your family including your pets Places to live Description of town Weather |
Introduce yourself: physical description and your personality Numbers and alphabet Sports and hobbies Description of your family, including your pets Places to live Description of town Weather |
| Year 8 | Year 8 |
|
Transport and holidays Past, present and future tense French festivals and cultural eating habits Leisure activities, TV shows Where you live, helping at home and daily routine Sports |
School and opinions about subjects Food and eating out Transport and holidays Technology Clothes and shopping |
KS4 French and Spanish
At KS4 we use electronically done books GCSE AQA French/ Spanish foundation and higher with differentiated tasks. Students can access both books online on Kerboodle.
Pupils follow the AQA syllabus.
AQA GCSE course should encourage students to develop:
- Understanding of French in a variety of contexts
- Knowledge of French and language learning skills
- The ability to communicate effectively in French
- Awareness and understanding of countries and communities where French is spoken.
The students will sit all their exams at the end of the course.
The specification covers three distinct themes. These themes apply to all four-question papers.
Theme 1: Identity and culture
(Family and friends, technology in everyday life, free time activities, customs and festivals)
Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest
(Region and hometown, social issues, global issues, travel and tourism)
Theme 3: Current and future study and employment
(My studies, education post 16, jobs, career choices and ambitions)
GCSE French has a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four-question papers at the same tier. Each paper is worth 25%.
Impact
We want our students to achieve their full potential by using a range of materials including GCSE criteria and end of Y11 targets. By learning a modern language, young people have a better understanding of world around them and values such as courage, compassion and commitment.
The results in GCSE modern languages have been a massive success with our students!
KS5 Spanish
This year we are offering A Level Spanish following the Edexcel Specification.
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/spanish-2016.html
The A-level Spanish course builds on topics at GCSE and introduces new, more complex ones. Many of them are topical and link to what you may be studying in other subjects, such as Politics and History.
Theme 1: La evolución de la sociedad española
Changes in family structures, the world of work, the impact of tourism in Spain
Theme 2: La cultura política y artística en el mundo hispanohablante
Music, the media, festivals and traditions
Theme 3: La inmigración y la sociedad multicultural española
The positive impact, challenges and social reaction towards immigration in Spain
Theme 4: La dictadura franquista y la transición a la democracia
The role of King Juan Carlos in the transition, Suárez’s government, the 1981 Coup
LITERATURE
The course also includes studying Spanish literature, the social and historical context and exploring these themes in writing.
We study a Spanish text in each year at A Level. In year 12, our chosen text is La Casa de Bernarda Alba by Garcia Lorca and in year 13 we study Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
Community languages
We offer our students the opportunity to take an extra GCSE in community languages: Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Chinese, Urdu, Italian, Panjabi, Japanese…
Events
To promote languages, we organise several events throughout the year:
EU Languages Day is celebrated on 26 September. In 2022 this was celebrated through whole school worship and a European flag competition and a treasure information hunt for year 7 students.
For KS3 students throughout the year we celebrate a variety of French and Spanish festivals, through learning about them in lessons to events and activities for students to participate in at lunch times.
Students in year 8 have the opportunity to have a pen pal from “Le Cèdre collège” in Rouen. In previous years, the students from the French school have been and visited Churchmead for a day.
