St. Mary's

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MFL Subject Overview

Includes French and Spanish

“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.”
Frank Smith
Contemporary Psycholinguist

Statement of Intent

The MFL Department at St Mary’s Catholic Academy is ambitious, experienced and specialised in the teaching of modern foreign languages. We aim to create rich and diverse learning experiences for our students, guiding them to understand the unique academic advantage our subject offers them in an increasingly competitive and challenging job market. We aspire to instil a life-long love of language learning in our students, and to develop skilled, enthusiastic, curious and independent language learners who are also culturally aware global citizens.

Through our own vast array of experiences we know how liberating, joyful and enriching it is to travel, live and work abroad, and how being able to communicate in another language profoundly enhances these experiences. We want our students at St Mary’s to know this. We also want them to appreciate that studying a foreign language is an incredibly rewarding opportunity that not only opens their eyes to the fascinating world of language learning, but also deepens their understanding of our increasingly interconnected planet and its people.

From Year 7 through to A Level, our pupils acquire language and cultural knowledge through studying a variety of interesting topics and developing the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Our seven-year curriculum places a heavy emphasis on the gradual and logical accumulation and reinforcement of not only vocabulary but also grammar. This focus on linguistic competence – real understanding of how a language works – aims to make our students confident in manipulating and using language independently, in all its forms. We believe this approach serves for individual differences in abilities and interests, and we strive to provide a high level of literacy and numeracy in our lessons, preparing our students for success in adult life. Our curriculum at all three key stages is underpinned by a mastery approach, which we believe equips our students with the necessary foundations for continuing their studies at A Level, learning different languages, or for studying and working in foreign countries.

KS3 French Curriculum Map

Jump to Spanish Curriculum Map
Subject Overviews
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Year 7 French Overview

Pupils in Year 7 study the topics of ‘Ma famille et moi’ (My family and I) and ‘Mon collège’ (My school). Through these topics, they develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and they are introduced to the key grammatical concepts of gender and adjective agreement, as well as learning the present tense (including the key verbs of aller, avoir, être and faire) and the immediate future tense (‘going to’). They also begin to learn to give and explain their own opinion in French. Pupils are also given a grounding in French phonics throughout Year 7, in order to give them confidence when pronouncing French. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.

Year 7 French Topics
Year 8 French Overview

Pupils in Year 8 study the topics of ‘Mon temps libre’ (My free time), ‘Ma maison’ (My home) and ‘Ma ville’ (My town). They continue to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and, building on and revisiting the grammar learnt in Year 7, they also learn the conditional tense (‘would’) and the past tense, and continue to develop giving their opinion and making comparisons in all of the tenses learnt so far. Pupils continue to revise French phonics, in order to further embed French spellings and sounds. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.

Year 8 Topics
Year 9 French Overview

Pupils in Year 9 study the topics of ‘Mes vacances’ (My holidays) and ‘Mes préférences’ (My preferences). The work pupils complete in Year 9 feeds into their GCSE. Continuing to expand their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, as well as their ability to give and explain opinions, they revisit the grammar learnt in Years 7 & 8 and they begin to hone essential skills necessary for GCSE study, including specific speaking skills and translation skills. Pupils’ knowledge of French phonics is consolidated. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.

Year 9 Topics

KS4 French Curriculum Map

KS4 French Overview

Our aim at KS4 is to prepare our pupils to the best of our ability for the step up to A Level French, should they choose to take it at the end of their GCSE course. Pupils follow the AQA specification for GCSE French. Throughout the two years of their GCSE course, they develop and expand upon the grammar and vocabulary acquired at KS3, deepening their grammatical understanding through learning new tenses, such as the imperfect, simple future and pluperfect, and are introduced to advanced-level structures such as the subjunctive. They continue to develop the four key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and continue to improve their translation skills. Pupils complete a vocabulary test every lesson, and complete regular formative assessments and half-termly summative assessments in order to ensure that they are progressing to the best of their ability. The GCSE course is complete by February half term, with the remaining time being devoted to revision and further developing exam skills.

Year 10 French Topics
Year 11 French Topics

A Level French Curriculum Map

A Level French Overview

Our aim at KS5 is to prepare our students for the continued study of French at university level. Our students follow the AQA A Level French course. Over the two years, they study twelve units based on social issues and trends, artistic culture, aspects of French-speaking society and aspects of political culture in the French-speaking world. They also study one film (La Haine) and one book (Un sac de billes) in French, developing crucial analytical and essay-writing skills. Students develop listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation skills, and by March of Year 12 have studied all of the grammar necessary for the further study of French at university level, grammar which is consolidated throughout the remainder of the course. Throughout Year 13, students undertake an Independent Research Project on an area of their choosing linked to the French-speaking world, and this feeds into their end-of-course speaking exam. Pupils complete regular formative and summative assessments in all skills areas over the two-year course.

Year 12 French Topics
Year 13 French Topics

KS3 Spanish Curriculum Map

Jump to French Curriculum Map
Year 7 Spanish Overview

Pupils in Year 7 study the topics of ‘Mi familia y yo’ (My family and I) and ‘Mi colegio’ (My school). Through these topics, they develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and they are introduced to the key grammatical concepts of gender and adjective agreement, as well as learning the present tense (including the key verbs of hacer, ir, ser, estar and tener) and the immediate future tense (‘going to’). They also begin to learn to give and explain their own opinion in Spanish. Pupils are also given a grounding in Spanish phonics throughout Year 7, in order to give them confidence when pronouncing Spanish. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.

Year 7 Spanish Topics
Year 8 Spanish Overview
Pupils in Year 8 study the topics of ‘Mi tiempo libre’ (My free time), ‘Mi casa’ (My home) and ‘Mi ciudad’ (My town). They continue to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and, building on and revisiting the grammar learnt in Year 7, they also learn the conditional tense (‘would’) and the past tense, and continue to develop giving their opinion and making comparisons in all of the tenses learnt so far. Pupils continue to revise Spanish phonics, in order to further embed Spanish spellings and sounds. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.
Year 8 Spanish Topics
Year 9 Spanish Overview

Pupils in Year 9 study the topics of ‘Mis vacaciones’ (My holidays) and ‘Mis preferencias’ (My preferences). The work pupils complete in Year 9 feeds into their GCSE. Continuing to expand their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, as well as their ability to give and explain opinions, they revisit the grammar learnt in Years 7 & 8 and they begin to hone essential skills necessary for GCSE study, including specific speaking skills and translation skills. Pupils’ knowledge of Spanish phonics is consolidated. Pupils complete weekly vocabulary tests and half-termly formative assessments, with a summative assessment at the end of each unit.

Year 9 Spanish Topics

KS4 Spanish Curriculum Map

KS4 Spanish Overview

Our aim at KS4 is to prepare our pupils to the best of our ability for the step up to A Level Spanish, should they choose to take it at the end of their GCSE course. Pupils follow the AQA specification for GCSE Spanish. Throughout the two years of their GCSE course, they develop and expand upon the grammar and vocabulary acquired at KS3, deepening their grammatical understanding through learning new tenses, such as the imperfect, simple future and pluperfect, and are introduced to advanced-level structures such as the subjunctive. They continue to develop the four key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and continue to improve their translation skills. Pupils complete a vocabulary test every lesson, and complete regular formative assessments and half-termly summative assessments in order to ensure that they are progressing to the best of their ability. The GCSE course is complete by February half term, with the remaining time being devoted to revision and further developing exam skills.

Year 10 Spanish Topics
Year 11 Spanish Topics

A Level Spanish Curriculum Map

Our aim at KS5 is to prepare our students for the continued study of Spanish at university level. Our students follow the AQA A Level Spanish course. Over the two years, they study twelve units based on social issues and trends, artistic culture, multiculturalism in Hispanic society and aspects of political life in the Hispanic world. They also study one film (Volver) and one book (Como agua para chocolate) in Spanish, developing crucial analytical and essay-writing skills. Students develop listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation skills, and by March of Year 12 have studied all of the grammar necessary for the further study of Spanish at university level, grammar which is consolidated throughout the remainder of the course. Throughout Year 13, students undertake an Independent Research Project on an area of their choosing linked to the Spanish-speaking world, and this feeds into their end-of-course speaking exam. Pupils complete regular formative and summative assessments in all skills areas over the two-year course.
Year 12 Spanish Topics
Year 13 Spanish Topics