Modern Foreign Languages
Our curriculum intent
Students at Robertsbridge are fortunate to have the opportunity to study two different modern foreign languages, French and Spanish.
French
We want to equip students with the confidence and skills to visit, study, live or work in a French speaking country. To enable this, we equip students with the analytical skills they require to notice patterns, similarities and differences between English and French. Students will become more confident speakers as we have a sustained focus on practical spoken French that students are likely to encounter and use. Students will become more tolerant as we engender an awareness and appreciation of cultural differences and similarities between the students’ home culture and Francophone countries.
Our teaching enables students to express their ideas and thoughts in French and to understand and respond to written and spoken French. Students are also provided with opportunities to communicate for practical purposes (emergency and tourist French), learn new ways of thinking and read a wide variety of literature. The four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing are part of every lesson and all students are expected to communicate and contribute. To enable students to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, the three strands of phonics, vocabulary and grammar are present in every lesson across both key stages. Lessons include a wide range of activities, starting with some culture in Key Stage 3 or a newspaper headline in Key Stage 4. Students are expected to be independent learners, to use their vocabulary booklets and dictionaries when they need to in order to express their own thoughts, opinions and ideas.
This year, in Key Stage 3, students follow an adapted version of the NCELP (National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy) curriculum which is based upon the recommendations included in the MFL Pedagogy review, led by Ian Baukham in 2016. Student voice was taken into consideration when designing this Scheme of Work to allow students to learn what they feel is valuable and as a result of this, many roleplays are included as these allow students to communicate for practical purposes. In Key Stage 4, students follow an adapted version of the Edexcel Scheme of Work which integrates culture and practical French alongside the requirements of the GCSE.
Spanish
To enthuse students about language learning and to equip them with the skills and confidence to speak Spanish. We aim to do this by teaching a wide range of vocabulary coupled with the appropriate grammar and structures of the Spanish language.
We will focus on real life transactional language that will help students to understand and communicate confidently in Spanish speaking countries. Equally, we will raise awareness of cultural and geographical aspects of Spain and the wider Hispanic world. In addition, we would like to inspire students to continue language studies beyond their time at Robertsbridge. This could take the form of learning additional languages and/or continuing to improve their Spanish skills.
What this looks like in practice
In Year 7, all students follow a short language carousel until the end of term 2. During this period they study Spanish, French and Latin. At the end of term 2, students choose to study either French or Spanish for the rest of year 7 and then throughout years 8 and 9. At the end of Key Stage 3, students have the option of studying their chosen language to GCSE level.
Modern Foreign Language lessons are lively and engaging; we use a variety of teaching and learning strategies to ensure that all students enjoy their learning. Additionally, all GCSE students are given access to computer-based learning facilities to aid their learning. These resources are also available at home.
Curriculum overview
Detailed information about the curriculum for each year group can be found in the document below.
Curriculum Map - French 2024.pdf
Subject Leader Self-Reflection - French.pdf
Curriculum Map - Spanish 2022.pdf