Modern Foreign Languages

At La Retraite we want our students to learn about Modern Foreign Languages so that we can help them to expand their curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. We believe that the study of MFL should enable students to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and understand and respond to their speakers both in speech and writing.

We know that MFL helps pupils to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. We contribute to the cultural capital of the students by raising awareness about other cultures and points if view in French and Spanish speaking countries. Most of our students are speakers of other languages which gives us a unique starting point in MFL.

When students arrive at La Retraite at the start of year 7, we find that there is a very wide range of experience in terms of MFL teaching and learning. The National Curriculum says that in primary school the MFL curriculum should cover basic vocabulary and grammar structures, asking and answering questions, descriptions, and opinions as well as accurate pronunciation, but, we find that students have been exposed to different languages at different depths. Therefore, we begin by introducing French and Spanish with the basic vocabulary and grammar structures from a beginners’ level. They start with one of the languages above and study it through their secondary school years to enable them to gain the top levels at GCSE and A level. From this September onwards we will have an extra scholarship group for MFL, who are going to be selected linguists based on the Swedish aptitude tests. This group is going to study an accelerated programme in both French and Spanish throughout their KS3 years and be offered to take both languages at GCSE and A level.

At KS3, we support their learning by specifically concentrating on their core vocabulary and key structures throughout the course. The MFL team has selected these structures with care and revisit it regularly with the students to aid retention, recall and consolidation as well as support pupils to build on prior knowledge. We organise the curriculum from a grammar point of view: we teach grammar with increasing complexity in the different topics taught each half term. We support our students’ learning by using summative and formative assessments regularly to give them feedback and move them forward smoothly. We develop our students’ passion for languages by teaching them about the culture of target language countries and by organising a theatre play in Y9 where they can put into practise what they have learnt at KS3. We are planning on expanding extra-curricular activities for MFL by introducing the Spelling Bee competition to Y7s and a film club for the rest of the school.

We are lucky in that we have the majority of the cohort who choose to continue studying GCSE French/ Spanish. We believe this is due to them feeling successful in languages at KS3 and also due to the multicultural aspect of the school where we have students exposed to different languages by their peers. We want our students to understand that French and Spanish give them a different outlook at the world enabling them to see the same ideas from different points of views.

Our students start GCSE early after Easter in year 9 to enable them to have a taste of GCSE studies and give them the opportunity to make an informed choice about their option subjects. They study 2 modules: Family and Technology which are the two easiest topics to help them to bridge the gap between KS3 and GCSE. In year 10, they study about free time, festivals, home, social issues and holidays and in Y11 they finish the course with modules school and jobs by the end of January which gives us enough time to concentrate on the speaking exam as well as revisit each topic before their real GCSE exams in May. Grammatical knowledge will be built upon providing reinforcement from KS3, alongside understanding and application of more complex structures and verb conjugation. Continual skill development will occur through the inclusion of the four key areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will make links between these areas to develop their understanding of how languages work. A range of skills within these key areas will be developed throughout each unit with repeated practice. Each assessment will focus on a particular exam skill element usually a productive skill, as these are commonly the hardest for students. This allows students and teachers to see particular areas of strength and areas to work on in terms of knowledge, understanding and skill. The listening and reading assessments also require the students to revise all the topics taught up-to-date to ensure continuous recall and reinforcement. Native Spanish speakers have the option to choose Spanish as an extra GCSE after school starting in Y9 and completing their exam at the end of Y10.

At A level we have a particularly good intake for Spanish partially having a lot of students from South American background who prefer to continue with Spanish at A level as they often get their highest levels in MFL at GCSE and as they expose their peers to their culture as well as the language. We are aiming at retaining more students in A level French by widening our extracurricular offers in KS3 and organising a regular film trip in Y10 to enhance their learning and enthuse them about language leaning. In the last 2 years we have been sending students to the Routes into languages summer camps which enthused some students to take on French for A level. A level MFL students can volunteer within the department by acting as a language assistant for KS4 students and help them prepare for their GCSE oral exams.

In year 12 students will focus on understanding of material written in the foreign language, drawn from a wide range of everyday, topical, technical, business, literary, social and historical sources and language spoken at speed on radio, television, cassette or film by native speakers or others on a variety of themes and in a range of styles. They will continue developing their translation and interpretation skills from one language to another as well as speaking skills by engaging in conversations, discussions and debates while developing and sustaining a logical argument in the foreign language and taking into account of other people’s views. Through the course they will develop an extensive knowledge of the countries, customs and topics the have studied and the issues facing contemporary society and accurate written skills in a variety of styles appropriate to context using a variety of complex and topic-specific language. Each assessment will focus on the particular module studied and will involve exam style questions. This allows students and teachers to see particular areas of strength and areas to work on in terms of knowledge, understanding and skill. The IRP project gives the students the opportunity to choose a topic related to French speaking countries that they are really interested in. They often combine the IRP project with their other A level subjects in preparation to their university interview.

Key Stage 3

Year 7 French Curriculum Map

Year 7 Spanish Curriculum Map

Year 8 French Curriculum Map

Year 8 Spanish Curriculum Map

Year 9 French Curriculum Map

Year 9 Spanish Curriculum Map

Year 7 Scholarship Spanish Curriculum Map

  Year 8 Scholarship Curriculum Map

  Year 9 Scholarship Curriculum Map

Key Stage 4

Year 10 French Curriculum Map

Year 10 Spanish Curriculum Map

Year 11 French Curriculum Map

Year 11 Spanish Curriculum Map