Modern Foreign Languages

Welcome to the M.F.L. Faculty curriculum area, which includes the subject French.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” ‒Nelson Mandela.

Curriculum Intent

Learning a foreign language will help young people explore other cultures and get a better understanding of their role as global citizens. It allows students to learn facts and skills, as well as learning how to interpret and apply that knowledge to new situations, including learning a new language later in life. Students will develop linguistic competence in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing the target language in a range of situations and contexts. They will also develop knowledge about language, such as grammar and syntax.

Students learning a language also develop other skills: they learn about cultural awareness and may develop an ability to see the world from different perspectives; they also develop creativity and problem solving as they find new ways of understanding and communicating a message. Learning a modern foreign language can also help students in the development of their mother tongue literacy skills, as well as other cross-curricular features such as numeracy and thinking skills.

Our intent is to develop passionate linguists who are independent, open-mined learners and who are confident speakers of French who have a sound understanding of French grammar, which includes the ability to apply it in new contexts and the ability to use and understand a minimum of three tenses confidently. 

Curriculum Implementation

All students in Key Stage 3 (with the exception of a small number) study French for 2 hours per week. The curriculum is implemented through highly structured and well-resourced learning plans which are differentiated to develop core skills and to meet the need of all abilities and are designed to engage students. Students are taught all four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing and each of these skill areas are practised, consolidated, reinforced and assessed on a regular basis. 

In Key Stage 4, students prepare for the AQA GCSE in French. 

Students in Key Stage 5 follow the AQA GCE A level. Their course is equally well structured and resourced and meets the needs of the students in terms of skills, content and knowledge of culture. 

Please Click on Attachments to find Topics of Study for each Key Stage.