In the Modern Foreign Languages Department, our curriculum aims to provide our learners with the knowledge and skills needed to be able to communicate across a range of topics and develop their cultural awareness of the target language countries. 

We want our learners to develop linguistic skills that can be applied to the English language and also to other disciplines, so their work is not limited to the purpose of language acquisition but it develops skills that can be transferred to other areas of the school curriculum.

The themes covered in both KS3 and KS4 are relevant from two perspectives because they are linked not only to their current world and experiences but also to their future, as it is the case of the topics of education and work where emphasis is put on plans for academic and professional pathways.

In terms of awareness of other cultures, it also provides a vehicle to, not only strengthen current links with other countries, but also explore a part of the world beyond the Anglo – Saxon, European and Commonwealth scope. The importance of language knowledge in the current international context cannot be underestimated, especially in terms of geographical areas where the United Kingdom has yet to develop their cultural, commercial and diplomatic relationships. We want our learners to benefit from these opportunities, allowing them to grow into fully functional citizens of an increasingly globalised world.

Across each unit of study pupils engage in individual, paired and group learning activities involving listening, reading, speaking and writing. Every unit in the curriculum includes key vocabulary and elements of grammar that build over KS3 and KS4 into a sound knowledge base.

Lessons draw on prior knowledge, providing numerous opportunities for retrieval practice, so that knowledge is secured. 

Pupils have access to vocabulary booklets that are structured as knowledge organisers, with their different sections following the topics covered in each year and structured in a way that facilitates sentence building and, ultimately, pieces of extended writing.  

Links between Modern Foreign Languages and future career options are used to build and reinforce aspiration. Every lesson will include an explanation as to how the topic of study is linked to careers and how the target language element enhances the range of opportunities that learners would be able to enjoy in that particular field.

Beyond the classroom the Languages Team has overtime offered a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities for pupils to enhance their practice of languages, through films, creative writing, cuisine and the study of other languages, as in the case of Arabic.

In addition, homework is used to consolidate knowledge through practice with key vocabulary and structures.

The Modern Foreign Languages department has run residential trips in France and Spain and it is intending to continue offering these opportunities, in order to allow learners to experience life in the target language countries, as well as putting their knowledge and skills into practice. 

Travel and Tourism / 

Customs and Festivals