Intent

The purpose of the French curriculum at The Westleigh School is to ensure that your child gets the opportunities to develop their character incorporating British Values and enhance their knowledge and skills in French, whilst following an engaging and culturally enriching curriculum plan.. The curriculum incorporates grammar and vocabulary as well as linguistic competence. Students in their lessons will use the 4 skills assessed to improve their knowledge and communication in Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Students will study different topic areas as well as authentic materials such as literature texts and stories to enhance their cultural awareness and will also study French for the wider world. 

Implementation

In Year 7 8 and 9, all pupils have the opportunity to study French. During the lessons, transferable learning skills for languages are taught, as well as giving the pupils a chance to learn vocabulary from key topic areas. In Year 7 all classes are grouped in order to support pupil ability and in Year 8 and 9 all classes are mixed. Before the end of Year 9, pupils will be asked (in consultation with parents/guardians) to decide on their options. Pupils will be advised to continue their French through to GCSE in Year 11.

We carry out formal assessments every term, which coincides with the topic areas. Assessments have been created by teachers at The Westleigh School to scaffold the skills required for the new GCSEs. 

KS4 (Y10-11)
The GCSE course builds on the knowledge and skills gained in Key Stage 3. Teaching is conducted as much as possible in the Target Language and pupils are encouraged to communicate with each other and with their teacher in the foreign language during everyday classroom situations. A course book is used at both Key Stages but is also supplemented by interactive resources, worksheets, film, songs and language games. Students will receive regular homework tasks and can enhance this by practising vocabulary on websites such as Languagesonline, Quizlet and tasks set on Kerboodle.


All students will follow the AQA GCSE course in French over 2 years and will build upon the listening, reading, speaking and writing skills that they have acquired in Key Stage 3. Relevant grammar teaching will be included at appropriate points within the curriculum.

KS4 (Y10-11) ASSESSMENT
During the KS4 curriculum the key specification assessment objectives are embedded into different lessons and topics, where appropriate.  The end result is that students will have had ample opportunity to practice and develop these key objectives, in preparation for the final exams at the end of Year 11.  

The four assessment objectives which students will be assessed on are:

AO1 Listening: Understand and respond to different types of spoken language.    25%
AO2 Speaking: Communicate and interact in speech.    25%
AO3 Reading: Understand and respond to different types of written language.    25%
AO4 Writing: Communicate in writing.    25%

Throughout Year 10 and Year 11, students will undergo mock exams in line with the Academy’s assessment calendar.  Mock exams will be formulated from past exams (summer 2018+) and specimen papers provided by AQA.  In addition to this once students have completed a section of their studies, students will complete reading, listening and writing tasks in lessons as well as controlled speaking tasks. These assessments will be scaled down GCSE exam style questions. In KS3 similar, small-scale assessments will be carried out once students have completed a topic to ensure their understanding is monitored effectively. 


Impact

The impact of MFL’s curriculum is measured through several means:

  • Outcomes for students at GCSE in Y11.
  • Progress and attainment data for current year groups at each Data collection point every Term.
  • Progress towards their Target Grades (FFT20)
  • Attendance data.
  • Behaviour for learning logs.
  • Engagement in enrichment activities.
  • Student voice.
  • Uptake of Languages at KS5

 

Learning Journey

Please click to view our Learning Journeys in Languages

 

Long Term Plans

Please click to view our Long Term Plans in Languages

 

"If you talk to a man in a language he understand, that goes to his head.  if you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela

Examination Board

The examination board studied in Languages.is AQA.  Please click to view the specification we study. 

 

Student Resources

We have a number of resources designed to support our students:

Knowledge Organisers
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 GCSE Foundation GCSE Higher

 

External Resources

The following websites and apps are also useful in supporting learning in languages