EXAM BOARD

AQA

ASSESSMENT FORMAT

100% terminal examination

GRADE METHOD

9 -1

 

“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world."

Chinese Proverb

 

Curriculum Overview:

Learning a foreign language not only encourages and improves communication skills, but also prepares students for the world of work and enhances their personal and cultural experiences. From Year 7 to Year 11, all students have the opportunity to experience and enjoy learning a language.

French is one of three languages offered from Year 7 in mixed ability classes for six lessons per fortnight.  Students who start French in Year 7 will continue learning the language until the end of Year 8.  During the options process in Year 8, students may choose to study French at GCSE if they have studied it in Years 7 and 8.

A key focus of our teaching and learning within the Modern Foreign Languages department is equipping students to be resilient, resourceful and confident language learners.  Supported by (HB)², we teach students a range of strategies on how to learn and retain new language and students regularly self-assess and evaluate their work in order to make progress going forward.

Through our five-year curriculum journey, students not only learn about the grammar and vocabulary that underpins the language, they also gain an insight into the culture of the language they are studying, including festivals, traditions, food and drink, the school system and much more!  In addition to the curriculum, students in Years 7 and 8 experience a language-based cultural capital day.  We also offer residential trips in Years 8 and 9, including to the Opal Coast in France and Berlin, Germany.

French students also get the opportunity to make contact with and write to a pen pal in France.

 

MFL Teaching Staff

• Mr P Leggatt – Academic Leader: Modern Foreign Languages & Subject Leader (German): Teacher of German and French
• Mrs Y Hallett – Subject Leader (French): Teacher of French and Mandarin
• Mrs M McMillan – Subject Leader (Spanish):  Teacher of Spanish and French.
• Miss N Wilson –Teacher of Spanish and French.

 

Assessment and GCSE specification:

Exam board:  AQA

You can find more detailed information about the GCSE French course on the AQA website via the link below:

AQA | GCSE | French | Specification at a glance

Over the course of the GCSE, students will study topics from the following themes:

• Identity and Culture
• Local, national, international and global areas of interest
• Current and future study and employment

Students following the GCSE course will sit four examinations in listening, speaking, reading and writing with each accounting for 25% of the final grade.

Students are assessed in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.  We teach through a variety of topic areas that are underpinned with a range of key grammatical themes, so that students develop not only a wide knowledge of key language, but also an understanding of how the language works.

GCSE French clinic takes place every THURSDAY in L5 with Mrs Hallett.

 

GCSE Results 2023

• 9-1 100%
• 9-4 91.4%
• 9-5 74.3%
• 9-7 28.6%

 

Numeracy and Literacy in Modern Foreign Languages

Literacy comes at the forefront of teaching within MFL.  Students learn to write, speak and read in the foreign language(s) that they study.  As well as learning the fundamental grammatical structures and vocabulary that underpin each language, students are encouraged to develop their work so that they can understand longer passages of text, express opinions both orally and in writing and to be able to talk about a range of topics in both written and oral form.  Students are regularly tested on spelling and grammar which, in turn, helps them to use the language independently and more confidently.

Numeracy in MFL is taught across a range of topics including numbers, dates (birthdays), shopping (clothes, and food), weights, measures and telling the time.

 

SMSC in Modern Foreign Languages

SSC is an integral part of the MFL curriculum and it lends itself to all aspects through the following topics:

Spiritual: Customs and festivals, personal identification and family

Moral: Healthy Living, food, drugs, smoking, alcohol, family and relationships, the environment.

Social: Customs and festivals, extra-curricular provision: clinics, Cultural Capital days, trips abroad

Cultural: Customs, festivals, school, food, hobbies, free time and leisure; trips abroad, Cultural Capital days

As well as covering SMSC through these topics, students are encouraged to discuss and reflect on the differences and similarities between the UK and the countries of the languages they study.

 

British values in modern Foreign Languages

Within the MFL department at The Henry Beaufort School, we actively promote the key values of mutual respect, democracy, the rule of law and individual liberty.  Within MFL lessons we aim to create a safe and trustworthy environment in which every student feels comfortable to learn about, debate and reflect on the countries where the language they study is spoken.  Students are encouraged to appreciate the need for tolerance and injustice throughout the world and, in turn, develop an understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.  As well as studying the culture and customs of these countries, our students also come to understand and value the rule of law and their democratic systems.