MFL

Head of Department – Miss G Willows

KS3 French and Spanish

Year 7

In Year 7, students develop their knowledge and understanding of French or Spanish in the context of familiar topics. They study French or Spanish for two hours per week. The foundations of the language, key vocabulary and grammar all form an integral part of the learning experience. We cover a wide range of topics from the following list: personal details, family and friends, school, animals, food, where you live, clothes (French) and weather (French). The Allez 1 course is used for French and the Viva 1 course is used for Spanish.

Year 8

In Year 8, students further develop their knowledge and understanding of French or Spanish and they deepen their cultural awareness. Students continue with two hours of French or Spanish each week, further developing their language skills. The following topics are studied: Holidays, sport and leisure, daily life and issues in francophone or Hispanic countries; entertainment, advertising and new technology (French); describing your town and describing people (Spanish). Spanish students use Viva 2. French students use the Allez 1 & Allez 2 courses.

In Year 8, students may go on their first residential visit abroad with Netherthorpe School: the wonderful Year 8 Paris trip (in October).

Year 9

In Year 9, students continue to have two lessons per week and they continue with the French Allez 2 course or the Spanish Viva 3 course. A wide range of topics in the contexts of France and francophone countries or Spain and Hispanic countries is studied. In French the topics of entertainment, festivals, media and mobile technology, food and issues for teenagers are studied. The Year 9 topics in Spanish are describing a past holiday, food, clothes and city life. Our students develop their confidence in the four foreign language skills of listening, speaking reading and writing. They also consolidate their understanding of French or Spanish grammar whilst becoming more proficient in their use of a range of tenses, in preparation for their GCSE studies. In Year 9, students who opt for French GCSE are encouraged to go on the residential visit to Brittany in March/April where we meet up with students and staff at our link school, Collège Sainte Jeanne d’Arc. Students opting for Spanish GCSE are encouraged to go on the residential visit to Santander, Spain in July in Y10.

KS4 - French

Additional information of use to students & parents.

The GCSE course is based around three main Themes:

Theme 1 includes family, friends, mobile technology, leisure time activities, festivals and holidays.
Theme 2 covers home and your local area, plus social issues such as poverty and global issues such as environmental problems.
Theme 3 is all about current and future study and employment.

Students develop the four language skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, which each account for 25% of the marks in the final GCSE exams in the summer term of Year 11, students take all these tests at one level - either Higher Tier or Foundation Tier.

The course content refers to life in various francophone countries including France and it aims to develop in students an understanding of francophone cultures. Students are encouraged to be curious about lifestyles and cultures in a range of francophone countries around the world and not just France.

All French GCSE students have access to a French native speaker who provides speaking practice in small groups every week. Students are able to practise talking in French about a photo (photo card), performing a role-play and having a general conversation on themes from the course. They are able to fine-tune and hone their speaking skills in order to maximise their chances in the final speaking test in the summer term of Year 11.

A range of independent learning (homework) tasks are set and frequently this is vocabulary learning. All students have weekly vocabulary tests, generally based on words from their AQA French Vocabulary Booklet which contains the full list of vocabulary as issued by the exam board.

We use the Tricolore 4 French GCSE course and the associated online resources which are accessible via the Kerboodle platform (www.kerboodle.com).

Extra-curricular:

We organise each year a residential visit to Brittany for Year 10 students of French. We have a link there with a French school, Collège Saint Jeanne d’Arc in the picturesque and historic town of Fougères. All Year 10 students who study French are encouraged to go on this residential visit there which takes place in the spring term (March/April).

In Year 11, students who study French are encouraged to accompany our residential visit to Paris where they are given opportunities to explore aspects of the French capital more independently. They also see there the landmarks and sights connected to the French film and book studied at A level.

KS4 - Spanish

Additional information of use to students & parents.

The GCSE course is based around three main Themes.

Theme 1 includes family, friends, mobile technology, leisure time activities, festivals and holidays.
Theme 2 covers home and your local area, plus social issues such as poverty and global issues such as environmental problems.
Theme 3 is all about current and future study and employment.

Students develop the four language skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, which each account for 25% of the marks in the final GCSE exams in the summer term of Year 11, students take all these exams at one level - either Higher Tier or Foundation Tier.

The course content refers to life in the Hispanic world and it aims to develop in students an understanding of Hispanic cultures. Students are encouraged to be curious about lifestyles and cultures in a range of countries in Latin America and Spain.

All Spanish GCSE students have access to a Spanish native speaker who provides speaking practice in small groups every week. Students are able to practise talking in Spanish about a photo (photo card), performing a role-play and having a general conversation on themes from the course. They are able to fine-tune and hone their speaking skills in order to maximise their chances in the final speaking test in the summer term of Year 11.

A range of independent learning (homework) tasks are set and frequently this is vocabulary learning. All students have weekly vocabulary tests, generally based on words from their AQA Spanish Vocabulary Booklet which contains the full list of vocabulary as issued by the exam board.

We use the Viva AQA GCSE Higher textbook and a range of online resources to deliver the course successfully.

Extra-curricular:

We organise each year a residential visit to Santander for Year 10 students of Spanish. This is an established trip and involves a range of language learning and cultural activities. All Year 10 students who study Spanish are encouraged to go on this residential visit which takes place in the last week of the summer term.

KS5 - French and Spanish

A-Level French

A-Level Spanish

KS5 Additional information of use to students & parents

You may choose to continue your study of French or Spanish beyond GCSE to A Level. Here you are taught in small, specialised groups where we build on the foundations laid at Key Stages 3 and 4 in order to progress to A Level standard. We make use of a wide variety of resources and encourage your independent study and research in the target language into areas of interest.

Studying a language to A Level is challenging, but extremely rewarding and it is a sound foundation for further education and employment as it improves your levels of self-confidence and your communication skills and it adds an extra dimension to your knowledge, understanding and cultural awareness. Advanced language skills are a rare commodity in the UK and so by continuing your study of a Modern Foreign Language your language skills are likely to be a valuable asset.

In addition to the usual timetabled lessons (4 hours per week in Year 12 and 5 hours per week in Year 13), you have an extra half-hour every week with a native speaker to develop your speaking skills, confidence and perfect your pronunciation. You benefit from experienced staff including native speakers one of which has worked for many years as an AQA examiner.

At A level you study all of the following:

Aspects of French/Spanish-speaking society: current trends and issues
Artistic culture in the French/Spanish-speaking world
Aspects of political life in the French/Spanish-speaking world
One text and one film from the list set in the AQA specification
Individual research project on an aspect of francophone/Hispanic society or culture of your choice

If you choose to study French you have the opportunity to offer to host a visiting French exchange student or even to plan a visit to our link school in Brittany. Such experiences provide unique opportunities for you to immerse yourself in the language and authentic culture of France.

Useful websites for practising French:

French news websites:

Useful websites for practising Spanish:

Netherthorpe
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