What is our curriculum and intention?

The Spanish and French curriculum are designed to ensure that our students demonstrate curiosity about the world around us and challenge the insularity that sometimes will characterise our demographic. In our curriculum, we seek to expose our students to not only the language, but the culture of the countries we study, thus broadening appreciation and understanding of both. Further to this, the study of topics such as the environment and charity work develops cross-curricular links with subjects such as Science, Geography, PSHE and Science.

• Our students use language receptively and productively, for communication in the real world, for practical purposes, for their immediate needs, interests and beyond.
• Our students become competent in reading, listening, speaking, and writing the Spanish and French language.
• Our students present, develop, and justify their points of view in both speech and writing.
• Our students are exposed to Hispanic and Francophone cultures, to promote their curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.
• Our students will appreciate the customs, traditions, and diversity of other countries.
• Consistent and effective retrieval practice, combined with spaced repetition, promotes optimal learning for all students.

What is our learning journey?

Our Curriculum is a five year ‘Learning Journey’.

Our curriculum is sequenced in such a way that allows for multiple revisits to topics studied across the five years. Topics are revisited two to three times across the 5-year course with increasing degrees of complexity. The further into the course we go, the more complex topics get in terms of grammar and content (e.g., tenses, comparatives, superlatives, verb forms etc).

At Key Stage 3, in both languages, students acquire the basic vocabulary of topics they will study at KS4 and the grammar knowledge which will enable students to communicate effectively. Students progress through KS3 by learning a wider range of vocabulary and grammar which increases in complexity. Students become confident with the concepts of nouns, adjectives, pronouns, infinitives and conjugated verbs. By end of KS3, we aim for students to be able to communicate information using verbs in past, present and future tenses. There are clear links between units, reinforcing prior learning consistently to facilitate retention and develop the grammar, knowledge and skills they need to communicate.

At KS4, we follow the AQA specifications for French and Spanish. Units have been sequenced to reinforce prior learning from KS3 but also to ensure that more complexity is introduced gradually to ensure that students secure their knowledge and skills to respond successfully to questions in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

French Learning Journey

Spanish Learning Journey

Why this? Why now? Why have we sequenced our curriculum this way?

The sequencing of our curriculum at KS3 aligns with that of KS4, which enables students to work on the foundations of communicative language and acquire the basic vocabulary of topics studied at KS4 throughout their KS3 journey.

Students feel comfortable knowing that their language should be used for communication purposes, and that accuracy of language is secondary in terms of our vision of success within MFL.

Our focus on communication in speaking and writing ensures that, from KS3, our students understand the requirements of the GCSE assessment objectives and know that, if they can be understood, they will succeed in MFL.

What will you typically see in our French and Spanish lessons?

Long-term learning: Constant recall of prior learning so that knowledge and understanding become secure. Students work independently using knowledge organisers.

Checking for understanding and mark making (ACMO): Comprehension questions; think, pair, share; cold call; questioning; mini whiteboards with a 3, 2, 1 reveal; quizzes. All pupils are subject to rigorous checking of their learning and supported to close any gaps they have in knowledge and skills by teachers’ effective formative assessment of their progress.

Live modelling and guided practice: The structure of lesson consists of “I Do” (a metacognitive approach), “We Do” (under the visualiser or on the board) and “You Do” (independent work with scaffolding). We model talking through our thinking process as we complete the task, or we analyse completed model answers and guide students to interrogate the best response.

Explicit teaching of vocabulary: Routinely read vocabulary from knowledge organisers or vocabulary list. Reading and repetition from the board is used to stimulate retention and the use of vocabulary in different formations and contexts.

Guided reading: Routinely reading texts using the visualizer prompting students to make annotations.

Teaching to the top: All lessons are designed to stretch and challenge students. However, staff will adapt these to ensure that the challenge in each lesson is appropriate for their class.

Retrieval practice and recall: Low-stakes quizzes; mini whiteboards with a 3, 2, 1 reveal; Do Now tasks. Students are doing tests to measure retention of vocabulary and understanding of grammar.

How do we assess progress in our subject?

Formative assessment is an ongoing process and enabled through effective use of AMCO (mark making). Students will complete vocabulary and grammar tests that assess their understanding and retrieval of what they have been previously learning. Students complete mid-unit assessments which focus either on reading, listening or writing. The mid-unit assessments along with the formative assessments enable staff to identify gaps and the reteach opportunities of aspects of the curriculum that are not yet secure. At the end of unit, the summative assessments include translations to assess grammar understanding and either listening, reading or writing tasks.

Year 7 French

• Term 1: Students introduce themselves and talk about pets. They introduce their family including the age of family members.

• Term 2: Students describe their personality and the personality of other people. They talk about what they like and what they like doing.

• Term 3: Students describe their physical appearance and the physical appearance of other people. They talk about what they do in their free time. They express opinions about free time activities.

Spanish

• Term 1: Students introduce themselves and talk about pets. They introduce their family including the age of family members.

• Term 2: Students describe their personality and the personality of other people. They talk about what they like and what they like doing.

• Term 3: Students describe their physical appearance and the physical appearance of other people. They talk about what they do in their free time. They express opinions about free time activities.

Year 8 French

• Term 1: Students introduce themselves and describe themselves. They talk about school subjects and describe their timetable. They express opinions about school subjects.

• Term 2: Students describe their school and describe a typical day at school. They talk about clothes and describe what they wear for different occasions. They express opinions about their school and clothes.

• Term 3: Students describe what they do in their free time and watch a French film to be introduced to some aspects of French culture. They talk about where they live and describe their home. They express opinions about free time activities and their home.

Spanish

• Term 1: Students talk about sports they do. They talk about where they live and describe their home.

• Term 2: Students describe their town; the amenities. They talk about what they do in town. They talk about school subjects and they describe their timetable. They express opinions about school subjects.

• Term 3: Students describe their school and their teachers. They talk about clothes they wear to go to school, They describe the clothes and they give their opinion.

Year 9 French

• Term 1: Students describe their town; the amenities. They talk about where they go and where they are going to go in an immediate future. They talk about food and drinks and they describe what they eat and what they are going to eat in an immediate future. They express opinions about food and drinks.

• Term 2: Students talk about TV programmes. They describe what they watch and express opinions. They watch a film in French to be introduced to some aspects of French culture. They talk about clothes and describe what they usually wear and what they wore in a recent event.

• Term 3: Students describe what they do at the weekend. They talk about what they did in a recently at the weekend and what they are going to do in an immediate future. They describe what they do with technology, including what they did recently and what they are going to do.

Spanish

• Term 1: Students talk about food and drinks. They describe what they like eating and drinking. They talk about clothes they wear to go to a party and they describe the clothes they are going to wear to go to a party in the immediate future.

   

• Term 2: Students talk about TV programmes. They describe what they watch and express opinions about TV programmes. They talk about what they do at the weekend and describe what they are going to do the following weekend.

   

• Term 3: Students talk about holiday, destinations and modes of transport. They describe a past holiday, what they did and what they ate and drank. They talk about technology and they describe how they use technology including what they did and what they are going to do. They express opinions about holidays and technology.

How do we extend and enrich our curriculum?

Homework is set through Seneca within both Key Stages to enhance and develop their knowledge and skills.

How does our subject relate to further education and careers?

Language skills can be used in almost any career, and particularly in businesses that trade internationally.

Success in French and Spanish can lead directly to job opportunities in the following areas:

• Academic researcher

• Diplomatic service officer

   

• English as a foreign language teacher

   

• Intelligence analyst

   

• International aid/development worker

   

• Interpreter

   

• Political risk analyst

• Secondary school teacher

• Translator

If you would like more information about the French and Spanish curriculums, please contact the Director of Learning, Mr L. Charruau via email: Laurent.charruau@daca.uk.com.