Modern Foreign Languages

 
 

Our vision in the Modern Foreign Languages department is that all language learners develop the skills and confidence to consider themselves as ‘World Citizens’ who belong in a multicultural, mutually respectful world. We aim to support students to understand other countries and cultures so that they can be more open and adaptable to new experiences; ensuring that each topic contains an element of cultural reference to not only the target language country, but the wider Hispanic and Francophone spheres. The department is committed to developing strong, lifelong linguistic skills and to encourage students to become curious and interested in the world.  Ultimately, we want our students to have a love of languages, and aim to achieve this by nurturing a linguistic curiosity and an intrinsic motivation to explore and respect other cultures and people.

The MFL Department is a dynamic, passionate, and enthusiastic department; a collaborative and creative approach to teaching and learning is embedded within daily practice and future planning. The department endeavours to make learning languages fun and meaningful, providing students with many opportunities for both collaboration and independent work in each lesson.

Curriculum maps are designed to ensure that all four skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) are covered in every unit and opportunities to revisit key skills in different ways, are built in to students’ learning journeys.  Grammar is the foundation for building language skills. Learning grammar enables students to speak and write more accurately, confidently and fluently.  Consequently, grammar skills are taught explicitly through every unit of work, and regularly revisited; emphasis is on equipping students with the linguistic skills to unpick and decode unfamiliar language. Opportunities for developing students’ metacognitive skills and reflection are built in at regular intervals, and the curriculum is designed to build students’ independence.

The MFL department actively seek to raise the MFL profile- highlighting the importance of language learning in the diverse world that we live in today; celebrating the European Day of Languages, visiting a local tapas restaurant, attending Language Days organised by universities and other local employers. The department organises a GCSE visit to Spain every two years.

MFL at Highfields equates to a second to none introduction to lifelong language learning. In the ever-changing face of the MFL learning landscape, we broaden our student’s horizon to breed respect, empathy, adaptability and consideration for others within our local and wider communities.

Subject Curriculum Overview

French

Spanish