Head of Department: Mrs O Hughes

Curriculum Intent

The Key Stage (KS)3 modern foreign languages curriculum provides students with the knowledge and skills to express themselves in the target language. Our curriculum develops students’ skills in: listening, speaking, reading and writing through high quality teaching, regular memory recall tasks, developing students’ cultural awareness as well as linking topics to real life careers.

Due to varied experiences of languages at KS2, our KS3 curriculum begins in Year 7 with basic vocabulary and sentence structures which gradually builds into more complex components to ensure the curriculum is equally challenging for all. Across the course of KS3 students will be exposed to and use three-time frames, complex structures and authentic resources across all four skills in order to adequately prepare them for GCSE.

Our curriculum enables students to gain an appreciation of different languages and cultures, as well as developing an appreciation of the English language through the study of grammar; which will subsequently improve their literacy skills, enabling them to progress in all subjects across the school.

The content taught at KS3 gradually increases in difficulty covering a wide variety of topics which exposes students to a variety of vocabulary and grammar. Students start in Year 7 by describing themselves, family members and free time activities as well as expressing and justifying opinions. Lessons are designed using creative and authentic resources which are fun and engaging.

Students also have the possibility to attend our ‘Languages Film Club’ which is run on a weekly basis at lunchtime which further develops students’ passion for languages. By the end of KS3 we hope to have ignited a love of learning languages, for students to have gained a cultural insight and a desire to continue their studies further.

At GCSE we follow the AQA specification, whereby students are expected to respond spontaneously to unfamiliar vocabulary, questions and texts. A range of topics and skills are covered at GCSE, with repeated modelling, practice, low stakes testing and end of term assessments. This enables students and teachers to identify specific areas of strength and improvement in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills.

At A-Level we follow the Edexcel specification, which covers a variety of themes such as changes in French society, political and artistic culture, immigration and the French occupation. This course also allows students to study literary text and film as well as an independent research project on a topic of their choice.