The Modern Languages Department is well established and is characterised by its commitment, enthusiasm and willingness to Language Teaching and Learning. We believe that all students can benefit from the study of a foreign language and we are proud of the fact that we offer French and German to our students.
French is the core language for KS3 (Years 7 & 8). French will therefore be offered as a three-year GCSE course to current KS3 students, which will allow all students to maximise their full potential in light of changes to the languages GCSE courses. German will be offered initially from Year 9 for those interested in learning a new language from scratch, and the three year GCSE period will allow all content to one covered in a timely manner for the exams in Year 11.
At present there are two full-time teachers who are able to teach across the age, ability and examination range. The MFL department has a tradition of visits and exchanges abroad. We offer an annual trip to France for students in Year 8. We regularly embrace the opportunity to extend languages into the curriculum and run a whole school European Day of Languages every September. We continue to embrace developments within ICT and we have a class set of iPads which we use to enhance the teaching and learning in the department.
Home Support
We believe that the support the students receive from home will help them to thrive in Languages. Parents/guardians can help their son/daughter with homework through support materials provided by the department such as vocabulary booklets, knowledge organisers, grammar and translation books and/or revision guides, as well as a variety of online resources.
We follow the Studio and Stimmt courses with equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading and writing. We are committed to providing students with effective feedback in lessons and in their exercise books where all four skills are assessed regularly. Students are allocated time in lessons and for homework to act upon feedback.
Students follow the AQA syllabus for GCSE French.
Throughout the course, students will develop their French language skills to their full potential, equipping them with the knowledge to communicate in a variety of contexts with confidence.
Students study the following themes:
Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest
Theme 3: Current and future study and employment
Assessment
Students may be entered for either Foundation Tier or Higher Tier but they must enter at the same tier for all four papers. Paper 1 is worth 25% of the final marks.
There are four papers:
Paper 1: Listening
Foundation Tier 40 marks; 35 minutes (including 5 minutes’ reading time)
Higher Tier 50 marks; 45 minutes (including 5 minutes’ reading time)
Paper 2: Speaking
Paper 2 equates to 25% of the final marks and is worth 60 marks, split as follows:
Students will be tested on their French Speaking in April and May.
Foundation Tier: students will attend one session of 7–9 minutes (and supervised preparation time of approximately 10–12 minutes).
Higher Tier: students will attend one session of 10–12 minutes (and supervised preparation time of approximately 10–12 minutes).
Paper 3: Reading
Paper 3 equates to 25% of the final marks.
Foundation Tier 60 marks; 45 minutes
Higher Tier 60 marks; 1 hour
Paper 4: Writing
Paper 4 equates to 25% of the final marks and is worth 50 marks.
Foundation Tier 50 marks; 1 hour
Higher Tier 60 marks; 1 hour 15 minutes
Students follow the AQA syllabus for GCSE German.
Throughout the course, students will develop their German language skills to their full potential, equipping them with the knowledge to communicate in a variety of contexts with confidence.
Students study the following themes:
Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest
Theme 3: Current and future study and employment
Assessment
Students may be entered for either Foundation Tier or Higher Tier but they must enter at the same tier for all four papers.
There are four papers:
Paper 1: Listening
Paper 1 is worth 25% of the final marks.
Foundation Tier 40 marks; 35 minutes (including 5 minutes’ reading time)
Higher Tier 50 marks; 45 minutes (including 5 minutes’ reading time)
Paper 2: Speaking
Paper 2 equates to 25% of the final marks and is worth 60 marks, split as follows:
Students will be tested on their French Speaking in April and May.
Foundation Tier: students will attend one session of 7–9 minutes (and supervised preparation time of approximately 10–12 minutes).
Higher Tier: students will attend one session of 10–12 minutes (and supervised preparation time of approximately 10–12 minutes).
Paper 3: Reading
Paper 3 equates to 25% of the final marks.
Foundation Tier 60 marks; 45 minutes
Higher Tier 60 marks; 1 hour
Paper 4: Writing
Paper 4 equates to 25% of the final marks and is worth 50 marks.
Foundation Tier 50 marks; 1 hour
Higher Tier 60 marks; 1 hour 15 minutes
Students may find the following websites helpful:
Keep in touch
Subject Lead for Modern Foreign Languages is Mr Mulhearn who can be contacted by email at t.mulhearn@voy.hlt.academy
We are looking to recruit an Advanced Teaching Assistant, to work 25 hrs per week, term-time only, with groups of students and/or individuals. If you would like to work at our amazing school and within @HopeSentamuLT take a look: buff.ly/2YSopA6 Closes 1 November.
