St Leonard's

MFL Curriculum Intent: Why do we teach MFL? 

We believe that all pupils in our school should experience the benefits of language learning. For us language learning provides not only academic challenge, but is an integral part of a holistic, broad and varied curriculum. Through their language lessons and the broader opportunities the MFL department offers, we want our pupils to be able to: 

• deepen their understanding of the world through awareness of other cultures; 

• understand the role of languages in enhancing community and promoting the values respect and tolerance; 

• listen, speak, read and write with increasing fluency, feeling confident in communication and unafraid to ‘try’; 

• grasp the grammatical structures that underpin the language and gain insight into their own language by doing so; 

• enjoy the academic challenge of spotting patterns and applying rules; 

• see the relevance of language to wider career opportunities; 

• feel successful in MFL irrespective of their achievement level. 

How?  

As an MFL department, we reviewed our curriculum in 23-24 and have worked hard to focus on reducing content and providing multiple opportunities to review and recycle sounds, vocabulary and grammar. We are still implementing these changes and building on our practice through regular discussion, weekly department briefings and shared resources. 

Our curriculum is carefully designed to ensure maximum progress across year groups and Key Stages. All learning is centred around ‘Three pillars of Progression’ and we have taken particular note of the Ofsted review series when planning our curriculum. 

1. Phonics  

We have worked hard to develop this aspect of our practice and spend time with pupils focusing on phonics and the confidence needed to acquire secure knowledge of the sound to spelling correspondance. Pupils at KS3 and Y10 know that the first lesson in a sequence of language will focus on pronunciation and individual sounds will be identified for specific practice, whilst others will be reviewed. Regular opportunity to review and recycle those sounds is built. We have supported this part of our curriculum by investing in software which supports pupils in aspects of dictation.  

Novice Learners KS3 and the majority of KS4 pupils

The pupils we have arriving in Y7 now have more awareness of phonics but it is not consistent. Through adaptive teaching and questioning based on the experiences of our classes, we aim to ensure that pupils quickly grasp the centrality of phonics for developing linguistic confidence which will then drive progress.  For our novice learners, explicit teaching and modelling of sounds, discussion of physiological aspects of sound production and isolation of key sounds as per the SoW will be seen in our lessons.   A ‘warm strict’ classroom environment of high challenge allows for pupils to feel confident to contribute and we work hard to achieve this. Adaptive teaching and questioning helps all to succeed.

Expert learners Higher ablity KS4 pupils and KS5

As pupils move through our curriculum, the explicit teaching of sounds is no longer necessary, but we work on the importance of intonation in ensuring that language is authentically pronounced. Time is spent practising the most challenging phonics for puppils to produce and we give opportunities for free and unstructured conversation as well as the specific requirements of the specifications we teach

2. Vocabulary 

There is a very strong correlation between knowledge of vocabulary, reading ability and grammatical competence. We have worked hard to support the wider aims of the school by explicitly teaching reading strategies, the use of context and common morphemes to build pupil confidence in reading in MFL. 

In 2023-24, we reviewed our curriculum and we are focusing on teaching the 2000 most frequent words. We introduce the vocabulary by using a topic area and key questions so that the pupils have a clear communicative purpose for their vocabulary. We build repetition, review and extension into the cycles of teaching. . We work hard to ensure that pupils have multiple opportunities to practise and recycle the language and we support all learners to be able to communicate using core language blocks. 

We are mindful that MFL should be open to all including low ability learners, who can too easily be put off MFL. Through the use of sentence builders which provide English translation for the words as we introduce them, we aim to reduce the stress on SEND pupils and pupils with working memory challenges. Those pupils still need to be supported to use the structures, but it has helped to reduce the stress that can be associated with language learning. 

Novice Learners KS3 and the majority of KS4 pupils

For our novice learners, explicit teaching and practising of vocabulary is seen with adaptive questioning to ensure that challenge is built into lessons.   Sentence builders are used as the basis for teaching but they are not restrictive and as pupils grow in confidence, we add vocabulary and structures, include complex linguistic blocks and push our pupils to reuse key verbs, and apply linguistic patterns.   We work hard to use listening and reading texts where pupils recognise the language they have practised and feel confident therefore in using context to identify further lexical items.  A ‘warm strict’ classroom environment of high challenge allows for pupils to feel confident to contribute and we work hard to achieve this. Adaptive teaching and questioning helps all to succeed. Careful use of Do Now and retrieval allows pupils to feel successful in learning vocabulary.

Expert learners Higher ability KS4 pupils and KS5

As pupils move through our curriculum, pupils develop study skills which allow them to extend their range of language independently. We provide a range of authentic materials and teach habits of work which allow pupils to build competence and fluency. We also provide further materials for self-study for pupils.

3. Grammar 

There is a logical progression from simpler to more complex structures and concepts, e.g Present Tense before the Simple Future in Year 7.  We have a very strong focus  on the concept of the INFINITIVE as it unlocks many opportunities for extended structures and supports accuracy and communication for those pupils who find it difficult to apply grammatical patterns independently. 

Embedding grammar into long term memory allows pupils to learn and understand more complex structures and concepts without becoming confused – regular retrieval and rehearsal opportunities are planned as part of the curriculum. 

We begin with key verbs so that all pupils are able to use accurate verbs to communicate and as our pupils become more confident, through explicit teaching, as well as adaptive questioning, we build mastery of the structures.  pupils practice grammatical structures and concepts in a range of creative contexts.  

Novice Learners KS3 and the majority of KS4 pupils

For our novice learners, explicit teaching of key verbs/adjectives will be seen and we begin with grammar as vocabulary. A succinct ‘pop-up’ teaching of the grammatical point in question is then used to encourage pupils to see the pattern and be able to build their concept of applying patterns to a different context.  Progression is logical through the curriculum, but we teach the concept of the infinitive early as it unlocks opportunities for pupils to communicate successfully with simple structures such as j’aime + INF; whilst allowing higher ability learners to practise applying patterns they have been taught.  A ‘warm strict’ classroom environment of high challenge allows for pupils to feel confident to contribute and we work hard to achieve this. Adaptive teaching and questioning helps all to succeed. Careful use of Do Now and retrieval has been crucial in building mastery. With SEND pupils, we work on ensuring that they are able to answer the key questions with a simple range of verbs and vocabulary successfully and we then build on their confidence in that way.

Expert learners Higher ability KS4 pupils and KS5

As pupils move through our curriculum, pupils are taught grammar more explicitly and they are able to work from the ‘theory’ to the ‘application’ with increasing success. We use websites such as conjugamos to encourage independent study.

Use of Target Language 

We are very fortunate in the department to have subject specialists with strong linguistic competence including three native speakers. We are, however, judicious in our use of TL and pay careful attention to the findings of the Ofsted review. 

Novice Learners KS3 and the majority of KS4 pupils

For our novice learners, we make sure that we create a warm environment of low stress by not confusing or overwhelming pupils. We avoid formulaic classroom language away from the usual greetings, but use our target language with pupils in the context of what they are learning. For example, when teaching hair and eyes, we may ask ‘tu as les cheveux raides ou ondulés?’ and build confidence that way. As we work through topics where opinions are needed, we might add a pourquoi?

Expert learners Higher ability KS4 pupils and KS5

As pupils move through our curriculum, we move to freer TL use. In 6th form, we have regular conversations about different topics, sometimes supporting pupils with the occasional English word, but the focus is on free-flowing French.

Progression Model 

KS3: 3 years 

1. Pupils are taught all the phonics from the NCELP Map 

2. Vocabulary builds in a spiral and cumulative way to prepare pupils for KS4 

3. Grammar: Pupils are taught to use all three tenses so as to prepare them for study at KS4 

KS4: 2 years 

1. Pupils follow the programme of study set by the exam board building on their knowledge from KS3. Pupils begin to move from novice to expert learners 

2. Increasing preparation for external assessment 

3. Build challenge to prepare pupils for A Level. 

KS4 GCSE French

Exam board: AQA
Course code: 8652
Examinations: Listening 25%; Reading 25%; Writing 25% and Speaking 25%
Progression routes: French is an excellent base from which to continue to all courses. The acquisition of language and the application of patterns helps with general academic development. GCSE leads nicely to A Level and beyond. Many people who study languages go on to work as Lawyers; Teachers; Translators; Journalists as well as a raft of other things.

KS4 GCSE German

Exam board: AQA
Course code: 8668
Examinations: Listening 25%; Reading 25%; Writing 25% and Speaking 25%
Progression routes: German is an excellent base from which to continue to all courses. The acquisition of language and the application of patterns helps with general academic development. GCSE leads nicely to A Level and beyond. Many people who study languages go on to work as Lawyers; Teachers; Translators; Journalists as well as a raft of other things.

KS5 courses