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Modern Foreign Languages

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Aims of the Department

We aim to make language learning a dynamic, positive and achievable part of the curriculum. Keystage 3 is the introduction and foundation for the learning of French or German, with the top sets in year 9 taking Spanish as a second foreign language. Years 10 and 11 are guided through the GCSE course to success.

At Bishop Barrington we value the opportunities that language learning can bring and aim to provide excellent teaching and learning in a secure environment where all pupils can reach their potential. Ofsted praised our success in 2003, stating:

"Students in modern foreign languages have improvod substantially"
"Pupils achieve "particularly well" in this subject."

Pupils at Bishop Barrington currently study either French or German at Key Stage 3 and they can opt to continue at GCSE. The learning in each year is divide into Modules, which gives pupils a clear sense of what they are learning and how it fits into the "bigger picture" of learning a language. It also helps pupils take charge of their own learning and reflect on their progress in the language and their Level, whilst enabling us to monitor their learning and development. An end of Module test approximately every eight weeks also gives the pupils a chance to more formally show what they have achieved.

Levels are awarded throughout the Key Stage. At the beginning of Year 7, pupils start without a Level, as we assume no or little prior learning. They then progress quickly and can hope to be on a comparative level with other subjects by the end of Key Stage 3. All pupils are encouraged to record the Level they have reached for reading, writing, listening and speaking and then set themselves targets as to how they can reach the next stage.

Homework in languages is often learning of vocabulary and key structures for sentence building. It is very important that learning by heart is taken seriously as this is crucial in progression.

At Bishop Barrington, we know that the way to learn a language is in a secure and supportive environment. We therefore expect behaviour to be excellent in all classes and the learning to be fun!

Year 7

When we welcome pupils in year 7 to Bishop Barrington, we begin languages teaching right from the very basics so that all pupils can have an equal starting point, despite any previous opportunities they may or may not have had to learn a foreign language at primary school. Our aim is to make languages teaching and learning as fully interactive as possible and build pupils' confidence through speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

The outline of the course is as follows:

Module 1 - Myself

Pupils start by learning how to introduce themselves in the foreign language, (for example saying their name, age and birthday) and also how to greet people, (for example saying hello, asking people how they are and what they are called. Pupils also learn classroom instructions and classroom equipment and are encouraged to use the foreign language whenever they speak in the classroom! Other essentials of language learning, such as sound patterns, pronunciation, alphabet and numbers, grammatical structure are begun in this module and obviously continued and developed throughout the Key Stage.

Module 2 - School

In this module, pupils learn about school subjects and their opinions of them. They also learn to tell the time in the foreign language and describe their daily routine. Time is also spent illustrating the cultural differences between life at school in this country compared to that of schools in Europe and in other countries where the language is spoken

Module 3 - Family

In this module, pupils learn to talk about themselves and family members in the foreign language, giving details of their appearance, personalities and interests and hobbies. We continually re-visit prior learning throughout, so that the key structures and elements of sentence building are becoming more and more familiar.

Year 8

During this year, pupils build on the language skills acquired in year 7 and increase their vocabulary and knowledge and understanding of grammar and language structures in the following areas:

Module 1 - Where I Live

Pupils learn to describe their home and region, including being able to give and understand directions and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of their area. This is also a good opportunity to discuss comparatives with typical home and regional life in Europe and other countries where the language is spoken

Module 2 - Transport and the environment

Pupils learn about all modes of transport in the foreign language and develop sentence construction by linking with previously learnt language. They then go onto learn about the environment around them and discuss environmental issues such as recycling, with particular emphasis on how this is done in other countries.

Module 3 - Jobs

Pupils re-visit the topic of family and this time show how their language skills are developing with more complex language structures. We also include jobs and careers, both discussing jobs that their family members and friends do, as well as describing their own aspirations. This is the pupils' first proper introduction of the future tense in the foreign language

Module 4 - Shopping

In this module we further extend vocabulary by introducing language for shopping, including items, prices and conversation for purchasing items in a variety of shopping contexts.

Module 5 - Preparing for Summer

In this module we focus again on the future tense, by discussing our plans for the summer holidays, which includes travel and holidays abroad and in this country

Year 9

Year 9 is aimed towards preparing pupils for the GCSE course in years 10 and 11 and draws together learning from the previous two years. Particular emphasis is placed on being able to manipulate verbs and tenses so that the highest Levels can be reached. The year outline is as follows:

Module 1 - Holidays

Pupils learn countries and holiday destinations. We then spend considerable time exploring the past tense, as the pupils learn how to describe a holiday they've been on in the past, including their travel arrangements, their accommodation and the activities they did. This module is assessed by a spoken presentation and written piece about this holiday. Most pupils are aiming for at least a Level 5 with this.

Module 2 - School

This is a more complex re-visit of a topic began in year 7 and pupils progress to being able to produce a project about their school, including the buildings, timetable arrangements, their opinions on subjects as well as their immediate plans for when they leave school.

Module 3 - Free Time

Pupils learn to talk in more detail about what they do in their free time, including opinions, arranging a meeting and location. We also study television, cinema and film within this topic.

Module 4 - Health

In this module pupils learn about healthy eating and keeping fit, and talk about illness and emergency.

Key Stage 4

Pupils opting to study a language to GCSE follow a modular course with the AQA exam board. This means that pupils can achieve points throughout Year 10 and 11 which call contribute to their final grade. Modules 1 and 2 are taken normally in Year 10 and focus on "My World" and "Holiday Time and Travel". Modules 3 and 4 in Year 11 concentrate on "Work and Lifestyle" and "The Young Person in Society". The modules are a combination of coursework and exam, enabling all learning styles to be catered for. We are very proud of our GCSE results in this area, standing at 45% A*-C in July 2005.

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