Modern Foreign Languages

Curriculum rationale

The aim of the MFL curriculum is to develop successful and effective communicators and to allow students to reflect on their culture alongside understanding new cultures. Lessons encourage students to experiment with the new language structures that they learn and embrace challenge and risk in a safe environment. Regardless of ability or background, all students study a language, either French or Spanish.  

Our curriculum is planned over five years to provide all students with a secure foundation on which they can build and equip them with life skills.  Leaving SJN with language skills will open up a range of pathways for their further and higher education and increase their employability. As well as building upon prior knowledge, the curriculum fosters resilience through challenge.  

Curriculum Design

The curriculum is designed to enable all our students to recognise and produce language in three timeframes.  The curriculum is therefore, well planned, coherently sequenced with topics and important language structures being interleaved and supports students to remember more regular retrieval practice. There is a clear transition between each phase of learning with provision to revisit skills and subject knowledge over time so no student is left behind in their learning.

We use a wide variety of strategies and resources including use of authentic materials and we encourage students’ use of spontaneous language.  The content of our curriculum enables students to develop an awareness of others and the world outside of the classroom.  For example, through teaching about customs and festivals in Francophone and Hispanic countries.  Teaching of social issues broadens students  knowledge of the wider world and current affairs.  We use current popular music to help students relate to popular culture.  All of this contributes to challenging stereotypes.  Our multi-sensory approach ensures we appeal to all learning styles, backgrounds and ability.

Curriculum plan

	MFL KS3 Curriculum Plan
Half term	Y7	Y8	Y9
1	Phonics and alphabet  Classroom language  Numbers and colours  All about me	Food and drink	Holidays
2	Pets  My family and I  Relationships	Eating out	Holidays
3	School  Subjects   Teachers	Home	Festivals and culture
4	Facilities  School  - uniform  Clubs – future plans	Town	Festivals and culture
5	Retrieval of family and school prepare for LET Big Test	Retrieval of food and drink and home and town to prepare for LET Big Test	Retrieval of holidays and festivals and culture to prepare for LET Big Test
6	Linguavision	Linguavision	Social issues – Film project

Homework

In MFL students do a weekly spelling test, this is set on Beehive and students are also given a paper copy of the words they will be learning each half-term. Research shows that vocabulary is the single most important factor in driving proficiency in languages. We carefully select topic words for students to learn the English definition of and high-frequency words for students to learn the target language spelling for. Students should spend time at home learning and practicing the words they are set each week. Students are supported in using a variety of strategies such as; look- cover- write- check, word pyramids, dictation etc. Another strategy we promote is to use Quizlet, a link for the week's spellings is on Beehive and uses flashcards and games to support learning the spellings. Spellings will be tested within the following week.

Year 7 students take part in the Spelling Champs competition in French or in Spanish. This is a Lionheart Trust competition which includes 3 stages. The competitors must learn 50 words per stage, totaling to 150 words over the year if they reach the schools final.

Curriculum Assessment

The curriculum integrates low stakes formative assessments in the form of interim tasks and weekly vocabulary tests and retrieval tests as well as summative assessments at the end of each topic.

Students are assessed in at least two skills at the end of each topic including a receptive skill (reading and listening) and a productive skill (writing and speaking).  Students are given a WWW and EBI to help them improve and are provided with a closing the gap task to help them make improvements.  Challenge tasks are provided for extension. 

Our writing and speaking assessments criteria are made explicit to students.  For most tasks the expectation is for students to extend their verbal and written responses with connectives, intensifiers, opinions and justifications. 

Summative and formative assessments are used to inform us of our students’ progress and enable us to provide intervention where students are at risk of not meeting their target. 

Extra-curricular opportunities

We offer a range of extra-curricular opportunities in Modern Foreign Languages.  Y7 students are given the opportunity to compete in the LET Spelling Champs. Y8 and Y9 students have the opportunity to watch a French/ Spanish play.

European Day of Languages is celebrated each year through quizzes and competitions and through celebrating the vast number of languages spoken by the students at SJN. In addition, visiting speakers are used to highlight the cultural aspects of the language and to promote the career opportunities within the subject.