Modern Languages Staff

For more information about the Subject curriculum, please contact: Mrs Singleton the Curriculum Leader.

  • Mrs J Singleton - Curriculum Leader
  • Mrs L Dudley
  • Mrs K Harwood
  • Mrs J Lylyk
  • Mrs C Mackintosh

Primary schools are contacted to ensure that, where possible, Year 7 students continue with the same language they have studied at Key Stage 2, enabling them to build on their prior knowledge. In special circumstances, Mr Morgan will consider reasons for a change of language. To enable students to make the best possible progress, students continue studying this language throughout Key Stage 3. At Key Stage 4 higher ability students continue with the same language to GCSE and all other students may opt to take the GCSE course.

 

MFL Curriculum Intent

  1. At Balshaw’s we aim to cultivate a love of languages and to help students develop into confident linguists.  
  2. We encourage our students to express their views and feelings in the target language yet be open-minded to the opinions of others. 
  3. Through our teaching, we push young people to explore their identity and understand the role they can play in the wider world. 
  4. We introduce students to different cultures and help them to foster a mutual understanding and respect of others.  

 

  

MFL Intent and Implementation

  1. Our schemes of work are structured around the three strands of vocabulary, phonics and grammar. We interleave these strands to promote strong linguistic skills through regular reviewing and recycling of prior learning, with the aim of boosting students’ confidence when using the language.  Regular classroom routines provide students with opportunities to use the language for real purpose in familiar contexts.
     
  2. In the MFL department we provide a broad range of extracurricular experiences to cultivate a love of language: for example, the MFL Love of Languages club is held once a week for KS3 students and foreign trips are offered to language students of both key stages, such as to Château Warsy in France for KS3 students and to Avila in Spain for KS4 students. Through their experiences in these trips and clubs, students become more open-minded about the lives of others, whilst practising their language skills and gaining confidence. 
     
  3. In order to gain a more in-depth knowledge of different lifestyles, cultures and viewpoints, students are encouraged to express and justify their views, listen to the views of others, and compare and contrast these views through the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
     
  4. During language classes students use either French or Spanish to explore and gain an understanding of the following aspects of their life and the lives of others: 

 

  • Identities and cultures 
  • Local areas and tourism 
  • School life 
  • Future aspirations and the world of work  
  • International and global issues 

 

As new language is introduced, we try to look at this in context, so we study popular culture such as songs, poems, extracts from novels, as well as festivals of the countries where the target languages are spoken. 

 

MFL Learning Journey

Please see our French Learning Journey below:

Please see our Spanish Learning Journey below:

 

Year 7

Overview

At Balshaw's all students in Year 7 will have either four lessons of French or four lessons of Spanish every two weeks. Students are taught in mixed ability groups and study three units of work throughout the year, in which they learn vocabulary on different topics, supported by a clear programme of phonics to aid pronunciation, alongside basic grammar concepts, such as definite and indefinite articles, adjectival agreement and the present tense, which are continually revisited throughout the programme of study.

Year 7 French Topic Outline

1 - La rentrée - covers the following topics:

  • French Phonics
  • Introducing yourself
  • Numbers and age
  • Brothers and sisters
  • Describing the classroom
  • Talking about likes and dislikes
  • Describing yourself
  • Say what activities you do

 2 - En classe - covers the following topics:

  • Colours
  • Time
  • School Subjects
  • School uniform
  • School day
  • Describing school in France and England

3 - Mon temps libre - covers the following topics:

  • Weather/seasons
  • Talking about what sports you play
  • Saying what activities you do
  • Booking out sport in French speaking countries
  • Talking about what you like doing
  • Forming and answering questions

Year 7 French Vocabulary Sheets

Year 7 Spanish Topic Outline

1 - Mi vida - covers the following topics:

  • Spanish phonics
  • Introducing yourself
  • Your personality
  • Age, brothers and sisters
  • Birthdays
  • Numbers and alphabet
  • Pets

2 - Mi tiempo libre - covers the following topics:

  • Activities you do in your free time
  • Opinions about what you like to do in your free time
  • Weather
  • Sports
  • Conjugation of present tense regular -ar verbs

3 - Mi insti - covers the following topics:

  • School subjects
  • Opinions about subjects
  • Describing your school
  • Describing break time
  • Verb conjugations of present tense regular  -er and -ir verbs

Year 7 Spanish Vocabulary Sheets

Year 8

Overview

At Balshaw's all students in Year 8 will have either four lessons of French or Spanish every two weeks. Students are taught in mixed ability groups and study four units of work throughout the year, in which they learn vocabulary on different topics, supported by a clear programme of phonics to aid pronunciation, alongside more challenging grammar concepts, such as irregular present tense verbs, the future and past tenses, which are continually revisited throughout the programme of study.

Year 8 French Topic Outline

Students will start will a recap of French phonics and classroom routines.

1 - Ma vie de famille - covers the following topics:

  • Describing your family
  • Talking about where you like
  • Talking about breakfast
  • Learning about 'Bastille Day'
  • Talking about animals
  • Using higher numbers

2 - En ville - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about places in a town or village
  • Saying where you go out at the weekend
  • Inviting someone out
  • Ordering drinks and snacks
  • Saying what you are going to do
  • Talking about plans for a special weekend

3 - Vive les vacances - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about school holidays
  • Saying what you did in the holidays
  • Describing a visit to a theme park
  • Saying where you went and how
  • Listening for negatives in the perfect tense
  • Asking and answering questions

4 - A loisir - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about celebrities and TV programmes
  • Talking about digital technology
  • Arranging to go to the cinema
  • Talking about leisure activities
  • Spotting synonyms
  • Using different tenses when speaking

 

Year 8 French Vocabulary Sheets

Year 8 Spanish Topic Outline

1 - Mi familia y mis amigos - covers the following topics:

  • Describing your family
  • Hair and eye description
  • Describing other people
  • Describing where you live
  • Using key irregular verbs in the present tense (ser, estar, tener)

 2 - Mi Ciudad - covers the following topics:

  • Describing your town
  • Saying what you do in town
  • Telling the time
  • Ordering in a cafe
  • Saving what you are going to do at the weekend (future tense)

3 - Mis vacaciones - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about a past holiday
  • Saying what you did on holiday
  • Describing the last day of your holiday
  • Giving opinions about a holiday
  • Using the preterite tense (past tense of regular verbs and the irregular verbs: ser and ir)

4 - Todo sobre mi vida - covers the following topics:

  • Saying what you use your phone for
  • Saying what type of music you like
  • Talking about TV
  • Saying what you did yesterday
  • Understanding a TV guide
  • Role plays and picture description

Year 8 Spanish Vocabulary Sheets

Year 9 Overview

At Balshaw's all students in Year 9 will have either five lessons of French or Spanish every two weeks. Students are taught in mixed ability groups and study four units of work throughout the year, in which they learn vocabulary on different topics, supported by a clear programme of phonics to aid pronunciation, alongside more challenging grammar concepts, such as irregular present tense verbs, the future and past tenses, which are continually revisited throughout the programme of study.

Topics covered are described below:

Year 9 French Main Language

1 - A loisir - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about celebrities and TV programmes
  • Talking about digital technology
  • Arranging to go to the cinema
  • Talking about leisure activities
  • Spotting synonyms
  • Using different tenses when speaking

2 - Le Sport en Direct - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about sports
  • Giving opinions about sports
  • Asking the way and giving directions
  • Using il faut to say "you must"
  • Talking about injuries and illness
  • Interviewing a sportsperson

3 - Projects de l'avenir - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about earning money
  • Talking about jobs you want to do and why
  • Describing future plans
  • Describing a previous day's activities
  • Talking about different ways of making money

4 - Tu as du temps à perdre:

  • Exploring events in the francophone world
  • Talking about what you do online
  • Saying what you do to stay active
  • Talking about what you watch
  • Making plans to go out
  • Saying what you did last weekend
  • Talking part in a interview

 

Year 9 French Vocabulary Sheets

Year 9 Spanish Main Language

1 - Qué hacemos - covers the following topics:

  • Arranging to go out
  • Making excuses
  • Discussing getting ready to go out
  • Talking about clothes
  • Describing sporting events
  • Describing fancy dress items

2 - ¡Oriéntate! - covers the following topics:

  • Saying what you have to do at work
  • Saying what jobs you would like to do
  • Saying what you did at work yesterday
  • Describing jobs/a typical day
  • Present and preterite tenses

3 - En forma - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about diet
  • Talking about an active life-style
  • Talking about your daily routine
  • Talking about getting fit
  • Talking about ailments
  • Developing conversation about fitness and routine

 

4 - Diviértete - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about Spanish-speaking sports stars
  • Talking about life online
  • Talking about sports and free-time activities
  • Arranging to go out
  • Saying what you did at the weekend
  • Talking about days that went wrong

Year 9 Spanish Vocabulary Sheets

 

KS3 ASSESSMENT IN MFL

At KS3, there is ongoing classroom assessment through teacher questioning, classroom exercises in the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, as well as online vocab quizzes to consolidate vocabulary acquisition and grammar quizzes to enhance grammar understanding. Students are formally assessed at the end of every module. As the learning process in MFL is cumulative, assessments include vocabulary and grammar from previous modules, as students develop the depth and breadth of their language. Two skills are assessed at the end of each module, either listening and writing or reading and speaking and these alternate throughout the year. There are also open book writing assignments completed in students’ exercise books. There is a final assessment in the last term for Year 7, 8 and 9 students to show how much progress they have made over the course of the year.

GCSE French

At Balshaw’s we use the Edexcel exam board and study the linear course. We use the Studio GCSE resources. The GCSE has two tiers, foundation and higher. The foundation paper allows students to access up to Grade 5. The higher paper allows students to access up to Grade 9.

Year 10 and Year 11 students have 5 languages lessons every two weeks.

Year 10 French

1- Tu as du temps à perdre?

  • Exploring events in the francophone world
  • Talking about what you do online
  • Saying what you do to stay active
  • Talking about what you watch
  • Making plans to go out
  • Saying what you did last weekend
  • Taking part in an interview

2- Ma vie scolaire

  • Learning about school life in francophone countries
  • Talking about school subjects and school life
  • Discussing school rules
  • Talking about making progress at school
  • Talking about what school used to be like when you were younger
  • Talking about learning languages

3- En pleine forme

  • Describing and giving opinions about dishes
  • Talking about meals and mealtimes
  • Talking about good mental health
  • Describing illness and accidents
  • Saying what you will do to improve your life
  • Talking about lifestyle changes

4- Numéro vacances

  • Talking about holidays and accommodation
  • Talking about your ideal holiday
  • Discussing what you can see and do on holiday
  • Talking about festivals
  • Reviewing and booking holiday accommodation

Year 10 French

Year 11 Foundation French

Will firstly finish Jours ordinaires, jours de fêtes (started in Year 10), then continue with:

7- Bon travail! - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about jobs
  • Discussing work preferences
  • Talking about plans, hopes and wishes
  • Discussing the importance of languages
  • Talking about how you earn money
  • Discussing work experience

 8 - Un oeil sur le monde - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about what makes you tick and what concerns you
  • Discussing the weather and natural disasters
  • Talking about protecting the environment
  • Talking about ethical shopping
  • Talking about volunteering
  • Talking about big events

9 - De La ville à la campagne

  • Talking about where you live and what you can do there
  • Revising places in a town and asking the way
  • Describing a region
  • Finding out tourist information
  • Discussing plans and the weather
  • Talking about your town, village or neighbourhood

Year 11 Foundation French Vocabulary Sheets

Year 11 Higher French

Will firstly finish Jours ordinaires, jours de fêtes (started in Year 10), then continue with:

 

7- Bon travail! - covers the following topics:

  • Discussing jobs and work preferences
  • Discussing career choices
  • Talking about plans, hopes and wishes
  • Discussing the importance of languages
  • Applying for jobs
  • Understanding case studies
  • Talking about what makes you tick
  • Talking about problems facing the world

8 - Un oeil sur le monde - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about what makes you tick and what concerns you
  • Discussing the weather and natural disasters
  • Talking about protecting the environment
  • Talking about ethical shopping
  • Talking about volunteering
  • Talking about big events

9 - De La ville à la campagne

  • Talking about where you live, weather and transport
  • Describing a town and asking the way
  • Describing a region
  • Talking about your town, village or district
  • Discussing what to see and do
  • Discussing plans and the weather
  • Describing community projects

Year 11 Higher French Vocabulary Sheets


GCSE Spanish

At Balshaw’s we use the Edexcel exam board and study the linear course. We use the Viva GCSE resources. The GCSE has two tiers, foundation and higher. The foundation paper allows students to access up to Grade 5. The higher paper allows students to access up to Grade 9.

Year 10 and Year 11 students have 5 languages lessons every two weeks.

Year 10 

1 - Viajes

  • Using me gusta(n) / me gustaría
  • Discussing travel plans
  • Talking about festivals in the Spanish-speaking world
  • Saying what you did on holiday
  • Describing where you stayed
  • Talking about holidays using different tenses

2 - Mi gente, mi mundo

  • Reading about different families
  • Describing people
  • Talking about who you admire
  • Talking about friendships and relationships
  • Talking about your identity and what matters to you
  • Talking about problems and giving advice

Year 10 Spanish

3 - Mi estilo de vida

  • Learning about typical foods in Spanish-speaking countries
  • Describing healthy daily routines
  • Talking about mealtimes and food trends
  • Comparing old and new habits
  • Talking about illnesses and injuries
  • Talking about future plans to improve health and wellbeing

 

4 - ¡A clase!

  • Learning about schools in Spain
  • Talking about a typical day at school
  • Talking about my studies
  • Talking about how I would change my school
  • Talking about students and teachers in my school
  • Describing a school trip in the past

Year 11 Foundation Spanish

5 - ¡A currar!- covers the following topics:

  • Talking about two different jobs
  • Talking about how you earn money
  • Talking about work experience
  • Talking about the importance and learning languages and travel
  • Applying for a summer job
  • Discussing plans for the future

 6 - Hacia un mundo mejor- covers the following topics:

  • Describing types of houses
  • Talking about healthy eating
  • Considering global issues
  • Talking about local actions
  • Discussing healthy lifestyles
  • Talking about international sporting events

7 - Ciudades - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about places in a town or city
  • Talking about shops
  • Describing the features of a region
  • Planning what to do
  • Shopping for clothes and presents
  • Talking about problems in a town
  • Describing a visit in the past

 8 - De costumbre - covers the following topics:

  • Describing mealtimes
  • Talking about illnesses and injuries
  • Talking about typical foods
  • Comparing different festivals
  • Describing a special day
  • Ordering in a restaurant
  • Talking about a music festival

Year 11 Foundation Spanish Vocabulary Sheets

Year 10 Higher Spanish

1 - ¡Desconéctate! - covers the following topics:

  • Discussing holidays and weather
  • Saying what you do in the summer
  • Talking about holidays
  • Saying what you did on holiday
  • Describing where you stayed
  • Booking accommodation and dealing with problems
  • Giving an account of a holiday in the past

2 - Mi vida en el insti - covers the following topics:

  • Giving opinions about school subjects
  • Describing school uniform
  • Describing the school day
  • Talking about subjects and teachers
  • Describing your school
  • Talking about school rules and problems
  • Talking about plans for a school exchange
  • Talking about activities and achievements

3 - Intereses e influencias- covers the following topics:

  • Talking about free time activities
  • Talking about TV programmes and films
  • Talking about what you usually do
  • Talking about sports
  • Talking about what is trending
  • Discussing different types of entertainment
  • Talking about who inspires you

4 - Ciudades - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about places in a town
  • Asking for and understanding directions
  • Talking about shops and buying souvenirs
  • Describing the features of a region
  • Planning what to do
  • Shopping for clothes and presents
  • Talking about problems in a town
  • Describing a visit in the past


Year 11 Higher Spanish

5 - ¡A currar! - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about two different jobs
  • Talking about how you earn money
  • Talking about work experience
  • Talking about the importance and learning languages and travel
  • Applying for a summer job
  • Discussing gap years

6 - Hacia un mundo mejor - covers the following topics:

  • Describing types of houses
  • Talking about the environment
  • Talking about healthy eating
  • Considering global issues
  • Talking about local actions
  • Discussing healthy lifestyles
  • Talking about international sporting events
  • Talking about natural disasters

7 - Ciudades - covers the following topics:

  • Talking about places in a town
  • Asking for and understanding directions
  • Talking about shops and buying souvenirs
  • Describing the features of a region
  • Planning what to do
  • Shopping for clothes and presents
  • Talking about problems in a town
  • Describing a visit in the past

8 - De costumbre - covers the following topics:

  • Describing mealtimes and routines
  • Talking about illnesses and injuries
  • Talking about typical foods
  • Comparing different festivals
  • Describing a special day
  • Ordering in a restaurant
  • Talking about a music festival

Year 11 Higher Spanish Vocabulary Sheets

KS4 ASSESSMENT IN MFL

At KS4, there is ongoing classroom assessment through teacher questioning, classroom exercises in the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, as well as vocab quizzes to consolidate vocabulary acquisition and grammar quizzes to enhance grammar understanding. At KS4, students are assessed at the end of every module. As the learning process in MFL is cumulative, assessments include vocabulary and grammar from previous modules, as students develop the depth and breadth of their language. Three skills are assessed at the end of most modules, either Listening, Reading and Writing or Listening, Reading and Speaking. Every half-term, students undertake an open book writing assignment which is also assessed. There is a mock GCSE exam for both year groups, where all four skills are assessed.

 

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