Curriculum Statement of Intent

The Greenshaw Learning Trust MFL curriculum offers students the opportunity to develop a comprehensive knowledge of their chosen language complemented by a true appreciation for language and culture.

Students begin their language learning journey in Year 7 where they concentrate on one language to enable an in-depth knowledge of the structure of the language and a wide vocabulary, in order to achieve subject mastery. With varied success in the teaching of MFL at KS2 the MFL curriculum at GLT starts at the beginning in KS3 with in-depth teaching of the basic components to ensure that all students are able to access the curriculum but is equally challenging with the use of three time frames and complex structures from the very beginning. The topic coverage at KS3 has been decreased to three topics per year to allow for more deliberate practice, chunking and input flooding of key structures to create automaticity in students’ language abilities. This enables students to be fully prepared to undertake a GCSE in the language and creates enthusiastic, passionate language learners who feel confident in their linguistic abilities.

Every module from Year 7 to Year 11 begins with students explicitly learning and recapping French and Spanish phonics in order to develop and improve their level of oracy in MFL. Students participate in repetitive, chunked and engaging speaking and listening activities to promote memory retrieval and retention. Students study an enriching range of topics including ‘International and global dimension’ and ‘Future aspirations, study and work’ combined with challenging grammatical concepts which require higher-level thinking and well considered responses to help students develop the key skills necessary to continue on to higher education.

Experiencing this curriculum enables students to gain an appreciation for different languages and cultures as they will study relevant content in relation to the target language country as well as other countries worldwide where the target language is spoken (i.e. South America for Spanish, North Africa for French). This enables students to create and develop their personal identity in relation to the wider world. Students will also develop a much richer understanding of the English language through the study of grammar, which will increase their literacy abilities and enable them to succeed in all subjects across the school.

The sequencing of content and skills enables students to build on prior learning throughout each scheme of learning and from KS3 to KS4. Students follow a clear pathway in the form of a success criteria ladder, which outlines the skills needed to succeed in communicating effectively in their chosen language. The ladder progressively increases in difficulty throughout KS3 from basic concepts (e.g. definite and indefinite articles) to using multiple tenses. The most complex structures learnt in KS3 create the foundations for success at KS4 with the basic GCSE success criteria for a Grade 5 being the use of the three time frames: past, present and future.

The content also increases in difficulty. In KS3 students first learn how to talk about themselves, describe their personal environments (e.g. family, home, town, school) and express personal opinions. This progresses to talking about others including family and friends. At KS4 students are expected to discuss topics with a focus on themselves and others, including those from different cultures and nationalities. The curriculum builds to the challenging concept of international and global dimension in Year 11 where students are expected to express detailed and developed opinions relating to environmental issues, ethics and the wider world. 

Every student is assessed in the four main skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking at the end of every term. 

Self-quizzing in languages

To help you make the most out of your Languages' self-quizzing, we have made this tutorial video. Have a look!