Modern Foreign Languages
Head of Department
Miss C Jackson
Qualifications
- BA(Hons) Modern History and Politics
- PGCE in Secondary Education and French
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela.
The Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) curriculum at Pleckgate is designed to foster a love of language learning and to encourage respect for and understanding of other people and cultures. Our key focus is on equipping pupils with a range of skills that allow them to become confident, successful and independent learners. Lessons are interactive and pupils are encouraged to work together to develop cross-curricular skills, such as use of the spoken language, problem-solving, literacy and memory skills. Pupils study French at KS3 and have the opportunity to study French and Urdu at KS4.
At KS3 pupils follow a broad MFL curriculum which is in line with the national curriculum and covers the four skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. This covers a variety of topic areas designed to motivate, engage and challenge pupils. These include understanding and responding to spoken and written language from authentic sources: speaking with fluency and confidence in the chosen language; writing for different purposes and audiences and discovering and developing an appreciation of writing in French. In addition to learning key grammatical concepts and a wide range of topic-based vocabulary, pupils also learn about the culture and history of France and that of French-speaking countries across the world.
In addition, language students at Pleckgate enjoy a variety of enrichment activities including an Arabic club and a KS4 speaking club.
The AQA GCSE course builds on the foundations of the KS3 curriculum and covers a range of topics from everyday transactional language which serves a practical purpose to modern French literature and current affairs. Pupils study towards final exams in each of the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing, all of which carry equal weighting.
Please note, every subject exercise book your child has contains a subject ‘Pleckgate Learning Journey’ that outlines the content covered, timelines and assessment points for the current year.