Languages

MFL Department

General information

All students are taught two lessons of French and German in Years 7 and 8. 

At the end of Year 8, students opt to study either French or German for GCSE and some do both. 

One Modern Foreign Language is compulsory up until GCSE level.

KS3

• In both languages, students learn a variety of topics, including greetings, animals, family, hobbies, and food.  In French, they also do a research project on a French town. 
• Students follow the ‘Encore Tricolore’ course in French, and in German, ‘Na Klar’ textbooks are available.

KS4

• In Year 9, the primary focus of the teaching is grammar, and in particular the tenses. 
• The AQA GCSE course is taught from the beginning of the summer term in Year 9 until the end of Year 11, and covers speaking, listening, reading and writing.  The coursework element (60%) is on speaking and writing.

KS5

• In French, we take the OCR AS and A2 exams, with the main resource being ‘Elan pour OCR’ in Year 12 and ‘Droit au But’ in Year 13.
• In German, students are now following the AQA AS and A2 exams.  We use the ‘Zeitgeist’ course book, as one of our main resources.

Other information

• Students in Key Stages 4 and 5 regularly use computer rooms for listening practice.  We have a wealth of material available for all year groups and we are continuing to add to these resources.  The lab is used by all years but has most use by KS4 and KS5 classes.
• Year 8 students are regularly given the opportunity to take part in a four day residential trip to France, and we intend to offer similar opportunities in KS4 in the near future.  Students in Year 12 often take part in a work experience scheme organised.

All languages rooms are fitted with PFI computer equipment and data projectors (through which CDs and DVDs can be played), overhead projectors and either a cassette or a CD player.

The Language Laboratory is a facility which has been available to the languages department since the opening of the new sixth form centre in 2001.