Vision

Our vision is to foster respect, empathy and understanding in our students, by developing their intellectual and emotional character.  We firmly believe that every child has the right to be curious about the world they live in through the study of the language, geography and culture of French and German speaking countries.  It is our purpose to cultivate well-rounded global citizens who sustain a life-long love of learning and an acceptance of cultural diversity.  Creating confident communicators is at the heart of everything we do. We aim to provide students with the necessary tools to be effective communicators in the modern world by exposing them to a rich blend of interesting, expressive high frequency vocabulary. We want students to acquire a solid linguistic foundation on which to independently build further knowledge and skills and to be brave enough to take risks, explore, and try to achieve in French and German. We want our students to be proud of their work and celebrate their success in languages.

MFL Curriculum Sequencing

FRENCH

YEAR 7

Overview/ Core Aims for year 7:

Students develop an awareness of phonic rules to support good pronunciation. They will learn about verb conjugation for high frequency verbs so they can talk about themselves and other people in a variety of contexts. They will practise asking and answering simple questions about what others do. Students will start to learn how to talk about future intentions. Throughout their studies in Year 7, students’ cultural development will be raised through exposure to texts/videos about life in French speaking countries and discussing the differences between their lives and ours.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 7:

• Present tense of essential high-frequency verbs in first, second and third person singular and plural
• Describing things and people
• Adjectives and adjectival agreement
• Future intentions
• Forming questions
  • Intonation
  • Subject-verb inversion
• Modal verbs in the present tense
• Quantities and numbers
• Possessive adjectives in the context of family, ownership, and opinions
• Countries and places

YEAR 8

Overview/ Core Aims for year 8:

Students continue their journey to become effective communicators in French through the study of verbs, nouns, adjectives and other word groups. They learn to talk about what they and others do, did and are going to do in the near future. Students continue developing their knowledge and understanding of phonics in French, and also develop their cultural awareness through reading longer pieces of French, including poetry.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 8:

• High frequency verbs in past, present and future tenses
• Describing things and people, including making comparisons
• Adjectival agreement and position of adjectives
• Forming questions
  • est-ce que
  • yes/no questions
• Asking and answering questions about everyday and past events
• Modal verbs
• Using both formal and informal modes of address when talking to other people

YEAR 9

Overview/ Core Aims for year 9:

Students consolidate and further develop their awareness of phonics, grammar, and syntax to successfully communicate in speaking and in writing. They work through a variety of original and purposely created tasks in listening and in reading, increasing their understanding and language proficiency. Students study cultural topics such as celebrations and festivals, compare school in France to the UK as well as study the topics of work, healthy living, and teenage issues.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 9:

• Asking and responding to questions using key question words
• Describing pictures and responding in more detail in speaking
• Expressing and justifying opinions in speaking and in writing
• Conjugation of high frequency and new key verbs in present, past and future tenses
• Modal verbs in the present tense
• Conditional mode
• Si clauses
• Applying adjectival agreement and position of adjectives
• Manipulating sentences to describe and express opinions

YEAR 10

Overview/ Core Aims for year 10:

Students develop their ability to communicate confidently in speaking and writing and to express and develop thoughts and ideas with increasing accuracy and fluency. They acquire new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking through the ability to understand and respond to a rich range of spoken and written materials.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 10:

Students in year 10 will apply a range of vocabulary and grammar knowledge across the following topics:

• Talking about themselves, family and friends
• Talking about customs and daily life in French speaking countries including food and drink, social media and new technologies
• Discovering the cultural life of French speaking countries (celebrations and festivals, reading, music, sport, film and television)
• Talking about holiday preferences and experiences, including using language for real purposes in holiday situations
• Describing their local area

YEAR 11

Overview/ Core Aims for year 11:

Students continue to develop linguistic ability with increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 11:

Students apply more complex vocabulary and grammar across the following topics:

• Expressing future work and personal plans
• Voluntary work
• Importance of languages beyond the classroom
• Discussing environmental issues
• Benefits of sports and music big events
• Comparing the British school system with the ones in French speaking countries
• Expressing opinions about school subjects and rules
• Experience and importance of school trips, events and exchanges

YEAR 12

Overview/ Core Aims for year 12:

Students develop their spoken and written skills using an extended range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. They develop their critical analytical thinking through study of a rich range of authentic spoken and written materials about the culture and society of French speaking countries.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 12:

Students apply their extended knowledge and understanding across the following topics:

• Changes in French society including family, marriage, education and work
• Changes in music, media, and traditions
• No et Moi novel by Delphine de Vigan, tackling the issues of relationships, family and homelessness

YEAR 13

Overview/ Core Aims for year 13:

Students continue to develop linguistic and analytical competencies with increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency. They develop independent research skills through completion of an Independent Research Project on a subject of their choice relating to the social and cultural context of a French speaking country.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 13:

Students apply their extended knowledge and understanding across the following topics:

• The impact of immigration in France and the rise of far-right political parties
• France under occupation, the Vichy regime and la Résistance
• Les Choristes film, tackling the themes of relationships, education and music
• Independent Research Project

GERMAN

For the academic year 2022 – 2023 year 8 learners are new beginners in German.

YEAR 8

Overview/ Core Aims for year 8:

Students develop an awareness of phonic rules to support good pronunciation. They ask and answer simple questions about themselves and the world they live in. Students will learn about verb conjugation for high frequency verbs so they can talk about other people in a variety of contexts. Throughout their studies in Year 8, students’ cultural development will be raised through exposure to texts/videos about life in German-speaking countries and discussing the differences between their lives and ours. They draw on their grammatical knowledge of French to make comparisons and contrasts between the two languages.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 8:

• Essential high-frequency verbs in first, second and third person
• Modal verbs in the present tense (including modals)
• Tenses
  • Present
  • Future plans
• Knowledge of word order
• Forming questions
  • Intonation
  • Subject-verb inversion
• Possessive adjectives in the context of family, ownership, and opinions
• Prepositions with accusative and dative cases
• Plurals and numbers (1 – 31 and dates)

YEAR 9

Overview/ Core Aims for year 9:

In year 9 pupils will build on the year 8 curriculum, including an understanding of basic grammatical foundations, within the context of: sport, healthy habits, holidays, celebrations, school, and the environment.

They will draw on their grammatical knowledge of French to make comparisons and contrasts between the two languages. Pupils learn about aspects of the culture in German-speaking countries.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 9:

• A sound phonetic basis in the language
• Expressing and justifying opinions
• Conjugation of high frequency weak verbs
• Understanding of basic commands and questions
• Word order with conjunctions, verb inversion
• Past and future tenses

YEAR 10

Overview/ Core Aims for year 10:

Students develop their ability to communicate confidently in speaking and writing and to express and develop thoughts and ideas with increasing accuracy and fluency. They acquire new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking through the ability to understand and respond to a rich range of authentic spoken and written materials.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 10:

Students in year 10 will apply a range of vocabulary and grammar knowledge across the following topics:

• Talking about customs and daily life in German speaking countries including food and drink, social media and new technologies
• Discovering the cultural life of German speaking countries (celebrations and festivals, reading, music, sport, film and television)
• Talking about themselves, family and friends
• Talking about holiday preferences and experiences, including using language for real purposes in holiday situations
• Describing their local area

YEAR 11

Overview/ Core Aims for year 11:

Students continue to develop linguistic ability with increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 11:

Students apply more complex vocabulary and grammar across the following topics:

• Expressing future work and personal plans
• Importance of languages beyond the classroom
• Discussing environmental issues
• Benefits of sports and music big events
• Comparing the British school system with the ones in German speaking countries
• Expressing opinions about school subjects and rules
• Experience and importance of school trips, events and exchanges

YEAR 12

Overview/ Core Aims for year 12:

Students in Year 12 further develop their linguistic skills, fluency and confidence and their capacity for critical thinking on the basis of their knowledge and understanding of German speaking countries.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 12:

• Communication strategies
• Critical analysis of German film – Goodbye, Lenin!
• Understanding of how to translate effectively and accurately between English and German texts in the context of topic: environment, German school system, the world of work, music, media and festivals and traditions

YEAR 13

Overview/ Core Aims for year 13:

Students continue to develop linguistic and analytical competencies with increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency. They develop independent research skills through completion of an Independent Research Project on a subject of their choice relating to the social and cultural context of a German speaking country.

Core knowledge to be learnt in year 13:

• Critical analysis of authentic literature in the original language – Der Besuch der Alten Dame and the film Goodbye Lenin!
• Understanding of how to translate effectively and accurately between English and German texts in the context of topic: Immigration, integration, former GDR and German reunification
• Independent Research skills project to form the main part of the speaking exam.