French
at Bishop Perowne Church of England College
Intent
The aim of the MFL curriculum is to develop a love of languages.
We assist students’ broadening exposure to the language, their progress over time, and their understanding of how they learn and how prior learning enables them to cope with new situations.
The curriculum identifies and takes advantages of opportunities to expose students to the culture of the target language country to encourage and develop an understanding of life in another country and to enable comparisons and differences to be discovered.
We encourage students’ development of cultural and topic-based knowledge so that they can confidently use their MFL in a variety of situations.
Key Stages 3 & 4
Year 7
There is an emphasis on speaking skills in the first term of year 7 which encourages students to build up their confidence when speaking the language.
Knowledge from each topic is used in future topics allowing students to constantly recycle information as they move forward. Phonics is built into lessons each term to enable students to recognise important letter groups and improve their pronunciation.
Every two weeks, students receive a word of the week along with some examples to broaden their knowledge and to improve their literacy skills.
Year 8
Throughout years 8 and 9, the course builds on students’ knowledge from year 7 and introduces a variety of new and useful topics. Students are encouraged to become more independent in their writing and speaking skills and will start to work with different tenses, allowing them to develop new ways to convey information.
Year 9
At strategic points in year 9, students will encounter aspects of carefully chosen GCSE topics. Students can expect to get a taste of what it is like to study French at GCSE through a bigger emphasis on grammar and content.
Year 10
The GCSE course begins at the start of year 10 and students study the topics required for the Edexcel French GCSE course.
There is an emphasis on improving and showing progress in all four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and students are encouraged to carry out regular independent work in order to fully develop their confidence.
Knowledge from Key Stage 3 is built upon as well as the acquisition of GCSE specific vocabulary and grammatical structures. Every two weeks, students receive a word of the week along with some examples to improve their literacy skills. This is based on high frequency French words. Examination requirements are regularly shared with students.
Year 11
During year 11, students study the remainder of the course topics to enable them to confidently sit their examinations. Regular exam practice in all four skills is carried out. All students carry out a mock speaking exam during term 2.
Students are given an array of support materials to help them throughout their GCSE course. At every point, the class teacher provides help and advice and is always available to offer support when it is required.
Assessment & Lessons
In French students are assessed in a variety of ways at Key Stage 3. Formative assessments take place every half term and summative assessments take place during the whole school assessment window. Before each summative assessment, revision lessons are carried out. Every lesson, students use show me boards to prove their understanding of new vocabulary and grammar concepts and enable teachers to track and close learning gaps.
At Key Stage 4, students follow the Edexcel GCSE French course. The four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing are each worth 25% of the final grade. Across years 10 and 11, students carry out regular past paper practice in listening, reading and writing. During the spring term, all students get the opportunity to carry out a mock speaking exam shortly before their official one takes place.
Enrichment & Co-curricular
Each term, students carry out an enrichment activity based on relevant cultural festivals or themes which arise through the topics taught. For example, students learn about Christmas and Easter in France. Throughout the GCSE course, students also learn about French-speaking parts of the world.
The department runs a range of trips, including the annual ski trip to Austria, the Berlin trip, the German exchange, a trip to Paris and a visit to Cologne Christmas Market.
The MFL department is very proud to be a host school for visiting international students from across the world. Students spend between two weeks and six months in school, where they follow our curriculum and make many friends and lasting memories.
Other Language Offers
At Bishop Perowne, we have a thriving EAL department that offers a wide range of language GCSE’s. In recent years, students have sat Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Farsi/Persian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Urdu, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
To accommodate as many students as possible, we aim to cover any language where a GCSE is offered, demonstrating our commitment to integrity and inclusivity.
