Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at The Deanery aims to ensure that all students become linguistically literate and confident, and will give them the tools so that they may flourish. The MFL curriculum is rigorous and engaging, and will give students the opportunity to develop foreign language skills through listening, reading, writing, and speaking whilst maintaining enthusiasm for language learning through challenge and reward. Students will also have the opportunity to explore different cultures throughout the world via various media, in order to deepen their understanding of the world and maintain tolerant views students will also be able to develop their own opinions and viewpoints in a safe environment and respond to speakers of other languages both in speech and in writing.  

The overarching aim of the curriculum is to allow students to flourish through confidence, security and perseverance in language learning, and to demonstrate respect and compassion for one another’s learning. In lessons, students are taught by experts in their subjects. We recognise the diverse needs of our students and address this through differentiating classwork, using elements of the EPI method (Extensive Processing Input) alongside traditional teaching methods, using a variety of activities from games, to group work, individual projects to engage learners, and creating a safe atmosphere of respect and tolerance within out classrooms.  We believe this to be pertinent to the academic, moral and spiritual success of our students, as all God’s children are precious and will be treated as such, with dignity and equal opportunities in order to flourish and fulfil their potential.  

Aims and Objectives

1. To explore issues affecting people on international, national, and local levels.
2. To gain a wider knowledge of other cultures, with a particular emphasis on faith and its influence on language and culture.
3. To be confident, secure, and perseverant in language learning and risk-taking through development of positive relationships and safe boundaries. 
4. To apply accurately the knowledge gained across all four key skills- listening, reading, writing, and speaking. 
5.  To show respect and compassion for others’ learning through demonstrating good listening skills, and supporting each other’s work through group work, peer-to-peer teaching, and peer assessment. 

French

French is currently taught to the September 2020 and September 2022 cohorts, as well as being a GCSE option. As a Romance Language (Latin-based), French grammatical structures that are similar to other Romance Languages such as Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese whilst sharing between one-third and a half of all its vocabulary with English. Due these unique features, we see studying French as a bridge that can lead our students to learn other foreign languages later on in either their educational careers or personal life. Furthermore, French was once the language of communication across Europe, and is presently the official language of 29 independent countries (second only to English!). By 2050 it is estimated that there will be around 750 million French speakers in the world. We believe that are to teach our young people how to be active citizens of an international society then we must prepare them for all aspects of life in such a world- including key language and communication skills. 

Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)

Year 7

The five topics covered will include describing oneself and others (term 1); The Basics: phonics, greetings and introducing yourself (term 2); Inter-Personal Relationships: family, friends, what makes a good friend? (term 3); Mes Passe-Temps: hobbies and interests (terms 4 and 5); Où J’habite: Where I live: describing a town (term 6).

By the end of Year 7, all students will be to use and understand the following concepts:

 Conjugating regular verbs in the first person singular and plural.

 Conjugating to be, to have, to go, and to do in the first person singular and plural present tense.

 Telling the time on a 12-hour clock.

 Give an opinion.

 Recall the meaning of over 40 words from memory from French to English and vice-versa.

 Be able to use knowledge of phonics to decode pronunciation of simple words.

 Correctly defining the concepts ‘noun’, ‘verb’, ‘adjective’, and ‘adverb’.

By the end of Year 7, the vast majority of students (+75%) will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Conjugating regular verbs in the third person singular and plural.

 Conjugating to be, to have, to go, and to do in the third person singular and plural present tense.

 Give an opinion and justify it.

 Using modal verbs

 Read familiar words aloud accurately.

 Adjectival agreement.

 Prepositions

 Use knowledge of phonics to decode more complex and/or unknown words.

By the end of Year 7, a majority (+50%) of students will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Simple negation of verbs in the present tense.

 The near future tense in the first person singular and plural.

 Adverbs of quantity.

 Write at least 40 words on any of the 5 topics taught in Year 7.

 Use knowledge of phonics to decode unfamiliar words in a sentence aloud with confidence.

By the end of Year 7, some (less than 50%) of students will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 More complex negation in the present tense.

 The near future tense in the third person singular.

 Write at least 60 words on any of the 5 topics taught in Year 7.

 Use knowledge of phonics to decode unfamiliar words in a sentence aloud accurately and with confidence. 

Year 8

The four topics covered will include holidays (terms 1 and 2), free-time activities (term 3), describing a house (term 4), my twin town and where I live (term 5). Term 6 will consist of revision and various cross-curricular activities promoting language use in a variety of skill sets.

In addition to criteria outlined in the Year 7 statement of intent, by the end of Year 8, all students will be to use and understand the following concepts or skills:

 Recognising the time frame of texts in the past, present, future in reading and listening. 

 Spell the common and familiar words correctly.

 Use high frequency verb phrases correctly.

By the end of Year 8, the vast majority of students (+75%) will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Write simple sentences in the present tense with little to no support.

 Conjugate regular verbs in the present tense with singular subject pronouns.

 Conjugate 2-3 irregular verbs in the present tense.

 Make reference to two or more time frames in a piece of writing that is more that is at least 90 words, and in speaking.

By the end of Year 8, a majority (+50%) of students will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Can conjugate regular verbs in the 1st person singular and plural in the present tense and perfect tense.

 Can conjugate all main irregular verbs in the 1st person singular and plural in the present tense.

 participate in simple conversation from memory.

 Write more complex sentences using conjunctions and adverbs and references two time frames using support in a piece of writing that is at least 90 words.

 Can demonstrate an ability to translate simple sentences from TL to L2 whilst ensuring that L2 is natural and fluent.

 Demonstrates an ability to understand and transcribe short familiar phrases.

By the end of Year 8, some (less than 50%) of students will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Participate in simple conversation from memory.

 Conjugate regular verbs in the 1st person singular and plural, and 3rd person singular in the present tense, perfect tense, and simple future tense.

 Can write more complex sentences using conjunctions and adverbs, and accurately references two time frames with support in a piece of writing that is at least 90 words.

 Can translate longer passages in at least 2 time frames from TL to L2 whilst ensuring that L2 is natural and fluent.

Year 9

The topics covered are ‘Theme 1: Topic 1: Me, My Family, My Friends: relationships, identity, socialising’ (terms 1-3), Theme 1: Topic 2: Technology in Every Day Life (term 4), Theme 1: Topic 3: Music and TV (term 5), and spend term 6 revising for end of year assessments. Year 9 sees the introduction of the key topics, vocabulary, and grammar that will be needed for the GCSE course. This is to ensure that students who take the GCSE course are sufficiently prepared to flourish and reach their potential.

In addition to criteria outlined in the Year 7 and 8 statements of intent, by the end of Year 9, all students will be to use and understand the following concepts or skills:

 Transcription of short phrases.

 Identifying present, perfect, near future, simple future, and imperfect verb phrases.

 Write at least 150 words any of the year appropriate topics with support.

 Conjugate the verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ in their full paradigms.

 Use simple negation in any tense.

By the end of Year 9, the vast majority of students (+75%) will be able to use and understand the aforementioned and following concepts:

 Transcription of longer phrases in any tense.

 Using 3 time frames in a piece of writing or in speech with some support.

 Participate in conversation from memory.

 Attempt to use more complex negation in any tense.

 Can translate complex structures from L2 to L1 with little error.

Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)

At The Deanery, students follow the AQA GCSE Course for both French and Spanish. For more information from AQA about GCSE French, please click on the links below:

• Specification at a Glance
• Themes
• Scope of Study
• Grammar List
• Vocabulary List
• Scheme of Assessment (Includes further information regarding Higher and Foundation Tiers, links to past papers, scaling factors, and assessment objectives).

Spanish

Please click here to access more information about Spanish at The Deanery CE Academy.  

French Knowledge Organisers

Year 7 French Vocabulary and Grammar Booklet

Year 8 French Vocabulary and Grammar Booklet

Year 9 French Vocabulary and Grammar Booklet

GCSE French Booklet

Spanish Knowledge Organisers

Year 7 Vocabulary Booklet

Year 8 Vocabulary Booklet

Year 9 Vocabulary Booklet

GCSE Spanish Booklet

Key Resources and Websites

Wordreference- an online dictionary for various languages https://www.wordreference.com/

BBC Bitesize KS3 French- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zgdqxnb

Seneca Learning- Online self-study and revision https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/358c7423-e317-498b-b0c9-32f205b92a3b/section/98863a9e-e6ea-40b6-ab67-e5fc78c3b062/session

The MFL department recognises that the enrichment programme offered by The Deanery is an opportunity to offer a wide array of language learning and cultural related activities. Thus far, we have been able to offer the following enrichment opportunities: 

Japanese - Students have had the opportunity to explore the culture and language of Japan, as well as the cuisine and art forms such as origami and calligraphy. 
Spanish/Hispanic studies - This enrichment gives students the chance to study a second Latin-based language as well as explore the culture, history, art, and cuisine of many other Spanish-speaking countries.  
European Languages - These enrichment sessions introduce students to the basics of a new language each week. Languages that have been studied thus far include German, Italian, and Welsh
E-Twinning Project - Through the Erasmus Programme’s E-Twinning service we have the opportunity to link up with schools across Europe to work on a collaborative project that can help our students can invaluable insights into the culture of other countries and the lives of their peers abroad.   

Word reference - an online dictionary for various languages 

BBC Bitesize KS3 French

Seneca Learning - Online self-study and revision