Modern Foreign Languages

Staffing and Role:

Mrs B Prunty - Head of MFL 

Mr F La Bua  - Teacher of MFL 

Dr A Bonci - Teacher of MFL 

Mrs M Beck - Teacher of MFL

Vision Statement:

The MFL Department aims to provide students with:

  • The necessary skills and language to engage in meaningful conversations with native speakers of their language of study.
  • A solid grammar, vocabulary and phonics base to enable them to achieve the best of their ability in their chosen language.
  • The necessary skills to become resilient, independent and creative learners.
  • Competent use of verbs and tenses.
  • An understanding and appreciation of grammatical structures (adjectives, adverbs, word order).
  • Solid vocabulary base covering a variety of topics from personal experiences (self, family, friends, free time, holidays, home and local area) to wider issues (new technology, healthy living, the environment, social issues).
  • A bank of high frequency words and phrases in order to aid extension across all topic areas.
  • The necessary language skills, cultural appreciation and sense of enquiry to be able to take their studies beyond GCSE if they wish.
  • Skills to enable further study/travel/residence in a country where their chosen language is spoken.
  • Dynamic, creative and challenging lessons in order to promote student engagement to enable them to achieve to the best of their ability in their language of study.
French and Spanish are currently on offer for study.

All students are currently studying either French or Spanish. Their study builds on the foundation of linguistic knowledge acquired at KS2. Those studying French are following the Pearson Edexcel Dynamo course. Those studying Spanish are following the Pearson Edexcel Viva course.

 

Viva Segunda Edicion Curriculum Sequencing Map.pdf

Dynamo Curriculum Sequencing Map.pdf

All students are studying for the Edexcel GCSE in French or Spanish.  Their study builds on the foundation of linguistic knowledge acquired at KS3. We use the Pearson Edexcel GCSE course book in each language. 

Higher Pearson Edexcel GCSE French SOW.docx

Higher Pearson Edexcel GCSE Spanish SOW.docx

Teachers actively post revision materials and resources on the Microsoft Teams page for their classes. We encourage pupils to check this frequently for their revision.

For both French and Spanish, we have created comprehensive knowledge organisers for pupils to use for reference and support.

Year 7 French Knowledge Organiser.docx

Year 7 Spanish Knowledge Organiser.docx

Year 8 French Knowledge Organiser.docx

Year 8 Spanish Knowledge Organiser.docx

Year 9 French Knowledge Organiser.docx

Year 9 Spanish Knowledge Organiser.docx

GCSE French Knowledge Organiser.docx

GCSE Spanish Knowledge Organiser.docx

We use www.languagenut.com for home learning and independent revision. Each child has a unique login for this platform. 

Other useful websites include:

www.conjuguemos.com  

www.quizlet.com

www.memrise.com  

www.duolingo.com  

www.bbc.co.uk/education  

www.wordreference.com

www.senecalearning.com

www.notesinspanish.com  

Please take an active interest in what your child is learning in MFL.

Deliberate practice is an excellent way to involve and immerse yourself in your child's MFL learning. For example, you could watch TV together with subtitles in the foreign language, listen to foreign radio/songs, follow foreign websites/applications/accounts on social media, visit a restaurant that serves the cuisine of the country of study. If possible, arrange holidays to a country where the language is spoken.

In addition to Languagenut, they will have vocabulary and/or grammar to learn for formative testing. You can help by testing them. Let your child try and teach you what they have been learning. This is a really good way for them to embed the knowledge.

  • Revision and support sessions are on offer from your child's teacher in Year 10 and 11
  • We run a culture club where pupils can learn about languages beyond French and Spanish
  • Exciting school trips to France and Spain 
  • Department staff are able to speak multiple more languages including Italian and German and are keen to support pupils with wider linguistic study.
Further information

For more details, please contact Mrs Prunty, Head of MFL, at b.prunty@testbourne.school.