Modern Foreign Languages

French or Spanish

Introduction 

With the advent of the global economy the world is becoming a smaller place.  Most professional institutions and the majority of the countries top universities now stipulate that entrants have some understanding of a second language in order to communicate more effectively with their counterparts and to demonstrate higher level academic skills.   

Course Content

Our Department places an emphasis on the communicative approach in the Target Language, which leading language theorists and Ofsted recommend.  The MFL department expects and encourages pupils to achieve their best in all four language skills; speaking, listening, reading and writing.  The department strongly believes in an inclusive approach to languages recognising that pupils of all abilities can access the curriculum. We use a variety of teaching styles in order to engage all types of learners i.e. visual, aural, oral and kinaesthetic. We also use a variety of realia, media resources and activities to engage all pupils. The main aim however, is that those pupils learn how to speak the target language and this is the main focus in every lesson.  By the end of Year 11 we would expect an able student to be able to confidently ask and answer 300-400 questions and also have the knowledge to adapt those questions to initiate more complex conversations.

Key Stage 3  

All current year 7, 8, & 9 pupils learn French or Spanish for 2 hours a week.The topics of study range from introducing oneself to study about going on holidays. The main aim is for pupils to build confidence using the language and gain a good basis for GCSE. 

Key Stage 4 

Year 10 pupils chose to study either French or Spanish as part of their options in Year 9. They have two hours contact time per week in year 10 and two hours contact time in Year ll.  At GCSE pupils sit public examinations at the end of Year 11. There are four examinations components for GCSE:

• Listening   (25%)
• Speaking (25%)
• Reading  (25%)
• Coursework (25%) – this consists of three pieces of coursework of 500-700 words each. 

Pupils are entered for one of two tiers of assessment either:

Foundation Tier (grades G-C)

Higher Tier (grades D-A*)

Key Stage 5 

Native speaker will choose the  language which is not their mother tongue but will also do their GCSE in their strong language and be able to study for an AS level in Year 11. 

GCSE Exam results summer 2006

Our results for summer have improved yet again on those of the previous year for both French & Spanish. This summer, in Spanish we achieved 100% A* - C grades.   This was well above the national average. In French we achieved 86% once again outperforming national comparisons. We aim to continue this success over the next few years with even more pupils opting for languages in Year 10. From those who are currently eligible we are aiming for an uptake of no less than 50% choosing French or Spanish in Sept 07. This figure is an increase from 6% in Sept 2003.  This has been achieved by giving pupils the belief and confidence that a language is a subject that they can succeed at.  

Trips abroad/Activities  

There will be cultural and educational trips every year to France and Spain for pupils to practice the language that they have been learning in class and to see it in a real life context.  The first trip to Spain will be taken place later in 2007 and pupils have been regularly going to Paris, France over the last few years where they have come back with a better understanding of why they are studying a foreign language. 

Pupils in Year 10 & 11 also have the opportunity to spend one hour a month at an international company in the city (Bloomberg) where they are individually mentored in French/Spanish.  This has helped the current Y10 pupils immensely to improve their language skills and obtain valuable practice and also appreciate the use languages in a professional environment.  We aim to become a School that is know London wide for its innovative approach to language learning tied in with the success of the pupils.  By success we mean pupils who leave St.Michael’s being able to communicate in the target language and with the desire and ability to continue language acquisition at college, work and throughout their adult lives. 

Language Status for St.Michael’s School 

The excellent work that our Dept has done over the past few years has been recognised by government and the School will soon have Specialist Language Status to go with the current Business status.  This will be an opportunity for the Dept to really move forward over the next 3 years as we will have extra funds to buy in new cutting edge resources for language learning and extra curricular activities to support classroom based education.  We will be also  be looking to forge stronger links with the Business Dept with a view to arranging timetabled activities and trips together in order for pupils to gain a better understanding of the link between languages and business.