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‘Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own’
Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe
The Birkdale modern languages curriculum aims to prepare students to become global citizens. We encourage learners to explore and appreciate the cultural differences of target-language countries and aim to foster greater tolerance and respect for others. We endeavour to nurture linguistic curiosity that will motivate students to take their learning forward and enhance their knowledge of their mother tongue. We expect our students to embrace the notions of both perseverance and being prepared to ‘have a go’ by acknowledging that while our expectations are high, the communication and exchange of thoughts and ideas is our key objective.
In our teaching, we are clear that we focus on grammatical structures, syntax and vocabulary, using the correct terminology and making explicit links to English and other foreign languages’ grammatical structures and vocabulary. We achieve this by teaching language contextually within topic areas and encouraging students to communicate in the foreign language. We use authentic resources, particularly through the Internet to offer immediacy and authenticity to the MFL learning experience.
Our curriculum focuses on promoting good communication across the four key skills
We build the cultural capital of our students by embedding their linguistic acquisition within a framework which introduces them to a wide range of vocabulary beyond their own cultural experience and sets them up as intercultural citizens.
As well as learning in the classroom, we aim to bring an international dimension to our pupils’ secondary school experience. This includes exploring traditions and festivals in French and Spanish-speaking countries, discussing cultural similarities and differences, and providing real and purposeful learning experiences abroad. We encourage as many students as possible to get involved in our well-established trips and exchange programmes. Students have the opportunity to spend five days in Paris in the Spring of Year 8 and participate in our exchange programme to Avila, Spain, which we run annually for pupils in Years 9 and 10.
Our aim is for all pupils to experience success in languages. We strive to achieve this by scaffolding challenging curriculum content. We offer a mixed ability setting from years 7 – 11 which allows all abilities to adopt a progressive approach and work towards improvement. We remove learning barriers by using lots of visual resources including flow charts, sentence builders and speaking ladders. We provide a wide range of support resources to all pupils including verb charts, work mats, spelling booklets and vocabulary booklets.
Curriculum Structure | |
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Foundation Stage - Year 7 & 8 | Examination Stage - Years 10 &11 |
Spanish is taught for 3 hours per cycle - all pupils French is taught for 3 hours per cycle - 90% of pupils mixed ability | GCSE French (Edexcel) GCSE Spanish (Edexcel) 5 hours per cycle mixed ability option classes |
Foundation Stage - Year 9 GCSE French and Spanish 5 hours per cycle mixed ability option classes |
Staffing Structure |
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Curriculum Leader - Mrs Wadhwa |
Teacher of French and Spanish - Mrs Devlin Teacher of French and Spanish - Mrs McWatt Teacher of French and Spanish - Mrs Walker Teacher of French and Spanish - Mrs Whittle |
French | Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Year 7 | KEY VERBS Introduction to high frequency verbs Introduction to describing images | ABOUT ME Developing high frequency verbs Introduction to writing extended sentences about my personality | DESCRIBING MYSELF Introduction to expressing simple likes and dislikes Describing myself | TALKING ABOUT OTHERS Developing knowledge of third person structures Describing images of friends and family | SCHOOL LIFE Developing knowledge of extended sentences to discuss school subjects | SCHOOL DAY Using high frequency verbs to talk about my school Discussing a typical school day |
Year 8 | SPORT Understanding how the present tense works Discussing favourite sports | LEISURE Discussing leisure activities using high frequency verbs Introduction to the near future | HOLIDAYS Expressing opinions about different types of holidays Discussing travel plans | HOLIDAYS Expressing opinions about travel Developing Reading Skills | PAST TENSE Introduction to the past tense Discussing a past holiday | PAST TENSE Developing knowledge of the Past Tense |
Year 9 | Discussing HOLIDAYS | Discussing HOLIDAYS | EDUCATION | EDUCATION | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS |
Year 10 | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS | LEISURE ACTIVITIES | LEISURE ACTIVITIES | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | FESTIVALS AND TRADITIONS |
Year 11 | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT | THE ENVIRONMENT, POVERTY & INTERNATIONAL EVENTS | SPEAKING EXAM PREP. |
Spanish | Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Year 7 | KEY VERBS Introduction to key questions Introduction to high frequency verbs | ABOUT ME Developing high frequency verbs to talk about personal information and my personality | DESCRIBING MYSELF Describing my physical features Discussing family pets | DESCRIBING IMAGES Introduction to expressing simple likes and dislikes Describing images of pets | LEISURE Discussing leisure activities and developing adverbs of frequency | LEISURE Introduction to the present tense Discussing a typical weekend with friends and family |
Year 8 | FOOD Understanding how the present tense works Discussing favourite foods | INTERNATIONAL FOOD Discussing mealtimes at home and abroad Introduction to the near future | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA Talking about where I live and my local area | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA Describing Southport and discussing key features Expressing opinions about where I live | PAST TENSE Introduction to the past tense Discussing what I did recently in my local area | PAST TENSE Developing knowledge of the Past Tense |
Year 9 | Discussing HOLIDAYS | Discussing HOLIDAYS | EDUCATION | EDUCATION | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS |
Year 10 | Relationships with FAMILY & FRIENDS | LEISURE ACTIVITIES | LEISURE ACTIVITIES | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | FESTIVALS AND TRADITIONS |
Year 11 | TOWN AND LOCAL AREA | CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT | THE ENVIRONMENT, POVERTY & INTERNATIONAL EVENTS | SPEAKING EXAM PREP. |