Why do we learn modern foreign languages?
William Blake once wrote, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to us as it is, infinite. For we have closed ourselves up ’til we see all the narrow chinks of our cavern.” This powerful statement was an invitation for the human race to break through the borders of our perceptions and expand into another world. Blake’s comment about the “doors of perception” is an observation about how we see and relate to the world around us. Through his work, he sought to alter both how man understands and experiences the world. Humankind is dependent on language for communication and expression of their thoughts and needs, and language has its own forms and basis that play an imperative role in human life. Although languages can vary across the globe, its role remains central in our day-to-day lives and in a critical conversation on languages and ethics, British philosopher Wittgenstein defended the idea that “the limits of [one’s] language meant the limits of [one’s] world.”
It is through the study of Modern Foreign Languages that pupils will forge the linguistic keys of communicating with precision through reading, writing, listening and speaking in another language. Furthermore, pupils will unlock doors, deepening their understanding of different countries’ history, literature, and arts; and most importantly consider their own identity and place in the world.
Our approach
Knowledge and skills in Modern Foreign Languages lessons are mapped backwards from the demands of work, university study, Key Stage 5, and Key Stage 4, so that the entirety of the curriculum empowers our pupils to seize greatness.
The design of the Modern Foreign Languages curriculum focuses on laying strong foundations for the future and is built upon six principles that are undergirded by the ‘Design Principles’ of the wider Ark Blake Academy Curriculum:
- Powerful knowledge: Reading and studying texts from authentic resources such as news articles, poems and foreign language literature empowers, transforms and enlightens pupils; learning about modern social issues in the French speaking and Spanish speaking world is equally powerful in providing access to great social mobility. Pupils will also be taught key concepts and terminology.
- Language experts: Explicit teaching of grammatical concepts, phonetics systems and vocabulary for instruction is fundamental: it needs to be transferred to the long-term memory. Skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking and translation) allow for the application of knowledge.
- Learning for mastery: Each pupil has the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge they acquire whether it is in independently, in pair or groups. Pupils will get the opportunities to lead projects that involves the whole school and their communities. Finally, they will get the opportunities to take part in cultural trips in London and abroad to master the knowledge acquired overtime.
- Development of domain-centric skills: In the MFL classroom, pupils will develop the confidence to use the foreign language. Reading, listening, speaking and writing confidently and accurately in the target language will be the focus of each carefully planned sequence of lessons. Pupils will build their knowledge overtime across the four skills while extending their vocabulary knowledge.
- An ambitious and coherent curriculum built around a narrative that is to make the language classroom the ‘habitus’ of the student- the place they feel the most comfortable, where they have a sense of belonging. A curriculum that places the emphasis on nurturing students into becoming confident orators who are able to manipulate the foreign language and their own based on audience and purpose.
- Cultural capital: Pupils will learn to write and think critically. The resources used will encourage them to have an appreciation of foreign literature and cinematography, have the confidence to be creative and imaginative. They will be encourage to be responsible and think independently through research homework while increasing their knowledge of the French and Spanish culture.
Year 7
French
| Autumn | |
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| Identity & Culture | |
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What type of person are you? Knowledge Content: Greetings; Classroom instructions; Introduce yourself; Numbers; Age using verb AVOIR; Key phonics; Birthday and Months; Different word categories; Vowels sounds; Consonant sounds; Talking about my personality and personality descriptions using ETRE (To be) ; and Animals and indefinite/definite articles Threshold Concepts: Idioms; Nouns have genders; Infinitives verbs; Articles; Adjectives; The use of different subject pronouns to refer to different person in oral or writing; Silent letters and how they affect pronunciation; and concept of liaison and understanding how it works with vowels. |
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What is your family like? Knowledge Content: Describing family using possessive adjectives; Talking about family relationships; Detailed descriptions of personality with adjectival agreements patterns using auxiliary verb ETRE; Comparisons of people’s personalities using comparative “plus…que”; Physical descriptions; and narrating a description in the 1st singular person vs the 3rs singular Threshold Concepts: Adjectives; Conjugation; Infinitives verbs only have a meaning once conjugated; Subject pronouns have genders; Two ways of using the pronoun “You” (formal vs informal) |
| Spring | |
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| Current Studies | |
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What sports do you like? Knowledge Content: Weather and activities; using verbs in the present tense; talking about which sports and activities you do; using the verb faire (de + definite articles)/ using verb jouer à + definite articles; using verb aimer + infinitive; Talking about preferences; and Roland Garros Threshold Concepts: Partitive articles change according to the gender of a noun; Articles are compulsory in French before a nouns at all time; Regular verbs follow a pattern; and Irregular verbs |
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What activities do you like? Knowledge Content: talking about healthy lifestyle using modal verbs + infinitives; sport in Frenchspeaking countries ; using cognates in context; Creating a profile and an interview about a French speaking sportsman/sportswoman; Talking about activities, you are going to do next weekend; and Tour de France |
| Summer | |
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| Identity & Culture | |
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What do you study at school? Knowledge Content: Talking about school subjects I study; Giving opinions on different subjects; Describing teachers and school timetable; Revisions on days, months and numbers; and Daily routine using reflexive verbs Threshold Concepts: Subject pronouns replace nouns in a sentence; Gender of nouns; Regular verbs follow a pattern; Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern; Regular verbs are split in 3 categories; Conjugation; Infinitive verbs; and 3 ways to ask questions in French |
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What is your school like? Knowledge Content: Describing my school equipment and uniform; Describing extra-curricular and free time activities, and school facilities; and Comparing School system in France with School system in the UK using comparatives Threshold Concepts: Indefinite articles in narrative vs definite articles; Regular verbs follow a pattern; Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern; Regular verbs are in 3 categories; Conjugation; Infinitive verbs; Gender of nouns; and Negative structures |
Spanish
| Autumn | |
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| Identity and Culture | |
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What type of person are you? Knowledge Content: Greetings; Classroom instructions; Introduce yourself; Numbers, Age using verb TENER (To have); Key phonics; Birthday and Months; Different word categories: nouns, verbs, adjectives; Vowels sounds; Consonant sounds; Talking about my personality; Give personality descriptions of you and your family; Animals and indefinite/definite articles + TENER Threshold Concepts: Idioms; Nouns have genders; Infinitive verbs only have a meaning once conjugated; Articles vary according to the gender and number of a noun; Adjectives agree with nouns according to their gender number; The use of different subject pronouns to refer to different person; In Spanish the intonation changes based on the accent |
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Who is in your family? Knowledge Content: Describing family using possessive adjectives; Family relationships; Descriptions of personality with adjectival agreements patterns using the verb SER; Comparisons of people’s personalities using comparative “mas…que”; Physical descriptions; Narrating a description in the 1st singular person vs the 3rd singular Threshold Concepts: Adjectives agrees with nouns according to the gender and number; Conjugation; Adjectives define the noun and always come after the noun; Infinitive verbs only have a meaning once conjugated; Subject pronouns have genders; Two ways of using the pronoun “You” (formal vs informal) |
| Spring | |
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| Current Studies | |
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What do you do? Knowledge Content: Weather and activities; using verbs in the present tense; talking about which sports you play; talking about activities you do; using the verb HACER (de + definite articles)/ using verb JUGAR; using verb aimer + infinitive; Talking about preferences Threshold Concepts: Partitive articles change according to the gender of a noun; Articles are compulsory in Spanish before a noun at all time; Regular verbs follow a pattern; Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern |
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What activities do you like? Knowledge Content: talking about healthy lifestyle using modal verbs + infinitives; discovering sport in Spanishspeaking countries; using cognates in context; Creating a profile and an interview about a Spanish speaking sportsman/sportswoman; Talking about activities, you are going to do next weekend; and Vuelta a España Threshold Concepts: Partitive articles change according to the gender of a noun; Irregular verbs vs regular verbs; and The near future tense conjugation |
| Summer | |
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| Identity & Culture | |
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What do you study? Knowledge Content: Talking about school subjects I study; Giving opinions on different subjects; Describing teachers; Describing my school timetable; Revisions on days, months and numbers. Threshold Concepts: Subject pronouns replace nouns in a sentence; Gender of nouns; Regular verbs follow a pattern; Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern; Regular verbs are split in 3 categories; Conjugation; Infinitive verbs; and 2 ways to ask questions in Spanish |
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How is your school? Knowledge Content: Describing my school equipment, uniform, extra-curricular and free time activities at school; Describing school facilities; Comparing School system in Spain with School system in the UK using comparatives Threshold Concepts: The use of indefinite articles in narrative vs the use of definite articles; Regular verbs follow a pattern; Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern; Regular verbs are in 3 categories; Conjugation; Infinitive verbs; Gender of nouns; Negative structures |
All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - Physical Education
Year 8
French
| Autumn | |
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| Local, National, International & Global Areas of Interest | |
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Where do you live? What is in your town? Knowledge Content: Visiting towns in France; Describing where you live; Talking about places in town and what activities one can do; Talking about plans for the weekend; Discussing going out and activities; and Question words. Threshold Concepts: Understanding there are 2 present tense in French; What do we call “present tense”? Negative structures; Cognates; and Familiar Words |
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What does your home look like? Knowledge Content: Talking about where you live (house/flat); Talking about places, you are going to visit in Paris; Ordering food in cafés; and Talking about future plans for the weekend. Threshold Concepts: Concept of “Faux amis”; Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Cognates; Familiar Words; Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; and Revisiting the meaning of infinitives |
| Spring | |
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| Local, National, International & Global Areas of Interest | |
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How did you spend the holidays? Knowledge Content: Talking about the Christmas break; Activities during Christmas break using the perfect tense with auxiliary verb AVOIR and regular verbs; Talking about Summer Holidays; Hobbies on Holidays; and Dream Holidays Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Etre and Avoir in the perfect tense become auxiliary verbs; When to use the perfect tense; What do we call “past tense” |
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How was your summer? Knowledge Content: Describing your last summer holidays and plans for next summer; Comparing holidays and giving opinions with a variety of subject pronouns. Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Etre and Avoir in the perfect tense become auxiliary verbs; Understanding when to use the perfect tense |
| Summer | |
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| Identity & Culture | |
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How do you use Social Media? Knowledge Content: Saying what you usually do as hobbies and expressing your opinion; Giving opinions on social media; Comparing various hobbies and sports Threshold Concepts: Etre and Avoir in the perfect tense become auxiliary verbs; Understanding when to use the perfect tense |
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How do you celebrate as a family? Knowledge Content: Types of programmes; Cinema in France; Opinions on films; Talking about a film I have recently watched Threshold Concepts: Etre and Avoir in the perfect tense become auxiliary verbs; Understanding when to use the perfect tense |
Spanish
| Autumn | |
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| Local, National, International & Global Areas of Interest | |
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Do you know Spain? Where do you live? Knowledge Content: Visiting towns in Spain; Describing where you live; Talking about places in town and what activities one can do; Talking about plans for the weekend; Discussing going out and activities; and Question words. Threshold Concepts: Cognates; Familiar Words; Negative structures |
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What does your house look like? Knowledge Content: Talking about where you live (house/flat); Talking about places, you are going to visit in Barcelona / Madrid; Ordering food in a restaurant in Spain; Talking about future plans for the weekend in town; Talking about plans for the weekend Threshold Concepts: Cognates; Familiar Words; Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives |
| Spring | |
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| Local, National, International & Global Areas of Interest | |
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What type of holidays do you like? Knowledge Content: Talking about what you usually do during Christmas break and Summer Holidays; Hobbies on holidays Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Understanding when to use the perfect tense; Different types of present tense in Spanish |
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What would you like to do? Knowledge Content: Describing your dream holidays and next summer; Comparing holidays and giving opinions with a variety of subject pronouns. Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Understanding when to use the perfect tense; Different types of present tense in Spanish |
| Summer | |
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| Identity & Culture | |
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Do you like Internet? Knowledge Content: Saying what you usually do as hobbies and expressing your opinion, including on social media; Comparing various hobbies and sports Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Understanding when to use the perfect tense; Different types of present tense in Spanish |
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How do you celebrate as a family? Knowledge Content: Types of programmes; Cinema in France; Talking about films Threshold Concepts: Understanding the use of 2 tenses to narrate events; Revisiting the meaning of infinitives; Understanding when to use the perfect tense; Different types of present tense in Spanish |
All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - Physical Education
Year 9
French
| Autumn & Spring | |
|---|---|
| Identity & Culture | |
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Who do you get along with? What makes a good friend? Knowledge Content: Revision on family description; Friendships; What is a good friend; Family and relationship Threshold Concepts: Reflexive verbs refer to who is doing the action in French but not in English; Abstract nouns |
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How were you as a child? Knowledge Content: Childhood; Comparing the person I was to who I am now; Talking about a person I admire and why Threshold Concepts: The use of imperfect vs perfect tense: both past tenses but with different functions; What do we call “past tense” |
| Spring & Summer | |
|---|---|
| Identity & Culture | |
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Do you have a healthy lifestyle? Knowledge Content: Describing my diet; Comparing healthy vs unhealthy diet; Revisiting daily routine; Revisiting sport; Looking at the school canteen menu Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
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What is your favourite celebration, why? Knowledge Content: Describing meals and dishes for celebrations; Describing what to wear for celebrations; and Looking at celebrations in Guadeloupe and Congo Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
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What are your hobbies? Knowledge Content: TV habits; Revisiting the use of social medias; Teenagers and social medias addiction; Taking about the type of music you like and why Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
Spanish
| Autumn & Spring | |
|---|---|
| Identity & Culture | |
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What are the relationships in your family? What is a good friend? Knowledge Content: Revision on family description; Friendships; What is a good friend; and Family and relationship Threshold Concepts: Abstract nouns; Idioms; Nouns have genders; Infinitive verbs only have a meaning once conjugated; Articles vary according to the gender and number of a noun; Adjectives agree with nouns according to their gender number; The use of different subject pronouns to refer to different person in oral or writing; In Spanish the intonation changes based on the accent |
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How were you as a child? Knowledge Content: Childhood; Comparing the person I was to who I am now; Talking about a person I admire and why Threshold Concepts: The use of imperfect vs perfect tense: both past tenses but with different functions; What do we call “past tense” |
| Spring & Summer | |
|---|---|
| Identity & Culture | |
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Are you healthy? Knowledge Content: Describing my diet; Comparing healthy vs unhealthy diet; Revisiting daily routine; Revisiting sport; Looking at the school canteen menu Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
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Which celebration do you prefer and why? Knowledge Content: Describing meals and dishes for celebrations; Describing what to wear for celebrations; Looking at celebrations in Guadeloupe and Congo Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
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What do you do in your free time? Knowledge Content: TV habits; Revisiting the use of social medias; Teenagers and social medias addiction; Taking about the type of music you like and why Threshold Concepts: Present, perfect tense, near future and imperfect tense change the meaning of a sentence; Translation in context vs literal translation. |
All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Physical Education
Year 10
French
Having mastered a broad body of knowledge and skills at KS3, students begin studying extracts of texts used in past GCSE exams, writing essays from past papers questions while reinforcing previous knowledge. All three modules studied in Year 10 focuses not only on what is familiar to students but depicts the lives of the youth in France and the challenges they face daily whether in their estate called banlieue; or at school. Discrimination and social issues will be discussed through extracts of a novel. Skills will be developed further, through the study of an anthology of short stories so that they become confident in recognising and appreciating narrative structure. They will also complete their portfolios by producing two pieces of writing for each module.
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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My Area and the French Speaking World |
Around Town |
| Comment est ta region? What is your region like? | Comment aides-tu ta ville? How do ou help in your town? |
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
Link to Prior Learning: Describing where I live revisited. (Module 4) |
Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
Link to Prior Learning: Revisiting my area (Module 4) |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Holidays |
Dream Holidays |
| Ou vas-tu en vacances? Where do you go on Holidays? | Comment seraient tes vacances idéales? How would be your ideal holidays? |
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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School and work |
Career Plans |
| Quels sont tes projets pour le future? What are your plans for the future? | Que voudrais-tu faire plus tard? What would you like to do later? |
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
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Knowledge Content
Threshold Concepts:
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Spanish
Having mastered a broad body of knowledge and skills at KS3, students begin studying extracts of texts used in past GCSE exams, writing essays from past papers questions while reinforcing previous knowledge. All three modules studied in Year 10 focuses not only on what is familiar to students but depicts the lives of the youth in France and the challenges they face daily whether in their estate called or at school. Discrimination and social issues will be discussed through extracts of a novel. Skills will be developed further, through the study of an anthology of short stories so that they become confident in recognising and appreciating narrative structure. They will also complete their portfolios by producing two pieces of writing for each module.
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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My Area and the Spanish Speaking World |
Around Town |
| Knowledge Content Talking about where you live (country) The Spanish Speaking World Life in Favelas (South American ghettos) and its challenges for the youth. Threshold Concepts: • In Spanish, several types of past tenses exist. • Understanding the differences between the perfect tense and the imperfect tense • Understanding the differences between the near future tense and the simple future in Spanish. Link to Prior Learning: Describing where I live revisited. (Module 4) | Knowledge Content • Consolidation • Volunteering in your area • Talking about where I used to live in my childhood • Comparing my town in the past with now using comparative • Talking about your future plans based on the weather forecast Threshold Concepts: • In Spanish, several types of past tenses exist. • Understanding the differences between the perfect tense and the imperfect tense • Understanding the differences between the near future tense and the simple future in Spanish. Link to Prior Learning: Revisiting my area (Module 4) |
| ¿Como es tu ciudad? What is your area like? | ¿Como ayudas tu ciudad? How do ou help in your town? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Holidays |
Dream Holidays |
| ¿A donde vas de vacaciones? Where do you go on Holidays? | ¿Que tipo de vacaciones te gustaria? How would be your ideal holidays? |
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts: Using the conditional tense to express a wish. |
Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts: Using the conditional tense to express a wish. |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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School and work |
Career Plans |
| ¿Cuales son sus planes para el future? What are your plans for the future? | ¿Cuales son sus planes para el future? What are your plans for the future? |
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Knowledge Content:
Threshold Concepts:
Link to Prior Learning: Revisiting school life and school subjects. |
Knowledge Content
Threshold Concepts:
Link to Prior Learning: Revising abstract nouns and qualities. (Module 1) |
All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Physical Education
Year 11
French
Reaching Year 11, students will conclude the study of the set of modules with discussing global environmental issues. Once students have encountered all modules, they will be set weekly tasks in preparation to their exams. If students can accomplish all tasks successfully, they will be equipped with all they need to seize their greatness. In preparation for their Speaking exam students will work through a cycle of practice built around role-plays, picture description and deliberate independent practice and feedback.
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Environmental issues |
Volunteering work |
| Notre planète est-elle en danger? Is Our planet in danger. | Que pourrait-on faire pour protéger l'environnement? What could we do to protect the environement? |
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Knowledge Content:
Link to Prior Learning: Revisiting concepts and ideas seen in Year 10 term 1 (My Area) and Year 8 (Where I live). |
Knowledge Content:
Link to Prior Learning: Revision and mock exams. Knowledge organiser with interleaving timetable given to students. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Revision |
Revision |
Spanish
Reaching Year 11, students will conclude the study of the set of modules with discussing global environmental issues. Once students have encountered all modules, they will be set weekly tasks in preparation to their exams. If students can accomplish all tasks successfully, they will be equipped with all they need to seize their greatness. In preparation for their Speaking exam students will work through a cycle of practice built around role-plays, picture description and deliberate independent practice and feedback.
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Environmental issues |
Volunteering work |
| ¿Como podemos ayudar a nuestro planeta? How can we help our planet? | ¿Como podemos ayudar a nuestro planeta? How can we help our planet? |
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Knowledge Content:
Link to Prior Learning: Revisiting concepts and ideas seen in Year 10 term 1 (My Area) and Year 8 (Where I live). |
Knowledge Content:
Link to Prior Learning: Revision and mock exams. Knowledge organiser with interleaving timetable given to students. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Revision |
Revision |
All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Physical Education