Approach to Teaching

Learning a foreign language is a skill that is becoming increasingly important in the global village that we live in and we are delighted to be able to offer two languages at St Edmund’s; French and Spanish. In lessons, pupils will develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing whilst practising strategies to help them with language learning. Pupils are encouraged to take an interest in different cultures and other countries through a variety of projects, ICT tasks with our MFL Ipads and creative activities.

• All pupils in school are currently studying either French or Spanish. All lessons delivered as 5 single lessons for Year 7s, 4 for year 8s and 4 for year 9s every fortnight.
• Pupils in Key Stage 3 follow a Modular course visiting areas which will be revisited in Key Stage 4. In KS4 French and Spanish appear in the Option pools. Pupils are given the option of continuing to study French or Spanish in KS4 to GCSE with EDUQAS.
• In KS4 pupils have 5 lessons of French and / or Spanish. At present this is delivered as 5 single lessons.
• Cultural trips to France and Spain will be offered from 2023 to our French/ Spanish Year 10 pupils

Language learning has been proved to help with the development of a variety of personal skills such as literacy, thinking skills and self-confidence.

Our Aims in MFL

• To promote intercultural understanding. 
• To enable students to have a more profound understanding of their own language and culture. 
• To develop the skills and the confidence to understand and speak in the target language with a real purpose.
• To help prepare students to become global citizens. 
• To build cultural capital. 
• To provide a competitive edge for future careers.  
• To relate language learning to current affairs. 
• To provide first-hand experience of foreign language and culture via trips and use of authentic classroom materials.

We teach French and Spanish. MFL is taught in mixed ability classes.  Differentiated materials and teaching are employed to allow all students to access the learning. 

We recognise the importance of the quality of teaching: we demand a high level of pupil involvement and engagement with their learning and expect high levels of interaction for all pupils. This is a key focus of our MFL Intent as it enables students to develop the skills and the confidence to understand and speak in the target language with a real purpose.   This sits alongside our teacher use of Target Language and teacher questioning, modelling and explaining.  We have an emphasis on learning through dialogue, with regular opportunities for pupils to talk both individually and in groups.  There is an expectation that pupils will accept responsibility for their own learning and work independently and regular use of encouragement and authentic praise in TL is used to engage and motivate pupils.

Intent:

The MFL Department contributes to the whole school curriculum intent by:

• Fostering pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world and of Spanish culture.
• Ensuring a “languages for all” approach to teaching all abilities
• Enabling pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language
• Providing opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes
• Equipping students with skills to understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• Increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
• Ensuring students can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
• Allowing students to discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied
• Providing the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries
• Promoting literacy and numeracy across all teaching, where applicable. The department will link to careers and contribute to whole school initiatives and promote staff well-being.

Implementation of the MFL Curriculum:

• Teachers within the MFL Department have a passion and sound subject knowledge, with expertise in external examining boards
• Teachers provide a safe, engaging environment for learning through classroom management
• Teachers blend all four language skills into lessons and teach in the target language to ensure full immersion in Spanish or French
• All lessons will include elements of interleaving and retrieval to enable learners to reflect on what they have learnt
• Teachers mark and check learning and understanding, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback. Teachers will respond and adapt their teaching as necessary.
• Assessment is focussed on verbal, reading and writing, skills which are learnt, practised and embedded into language lesson routine.
• Teachers have high expectations of all students to ensure students are independent learners who take pride in their work
• Links with other schools in Spain and France provides meaning and purpose to real life language learning for our students

Impact of the MFL Curriculum:

• Learners within the MFL Department will become more confident communicators and see a developed language proficiency.
• The impact of the curriculum will see an increased respect for other cultures and a sense of global community.
• Learners are ready to move to the next stage in education, employment or training.
• ’Where applicable, they gain a GCSE Spanish/French qualification that allows them to go on to destinations that meet their aspiration.

MFL Results:

Outstanding Homework