Overview

The Modern Foreign Languages department offers students one of either French, German or Spanish. Students are assigned their language in Year 7, which they will continue throughout Key Stage 3.

Lessons develop listening, reading, writing, translation and speaking skills, alongside cultural knowledge of the countries where the language is spoken. Language learning enhances communication, travel opportunities and future employability.

Residential trips abroad to France, Germany and Spain are also offered to enrich the learning experience.

Key Stage 3

In Year 7, all students are assigned one language (either French, German or Spanish) for two one-hour lessons per week.

In Years 8 and 9, students continue with their assigned language for two lessons per week.

The department is well resourced, with incredibly experienced and supportive staff.

Key Stage 4

At Key Stage 4, students can take GCSE French, German or Spanish, continuing with the language studied at Key Stage 3. The course follows the AQA specification and is taught by an experienced department. King Ecgbert School regularly attains some of the highest pass rates in the country, regularly exceeding a pass rate of over 90%, with a substantial proportion achieving the highest grades of 7 and above.

Students have three one-hour MFL lessons per week in one year and two one-hour lessons in the other. Topics studied include relationships, social media, music, cinema and TV, festivals, celebrities, the environment, and university or work.

GCSE assessments at the end of Year 11 cover speaking, listening, reading and writing, each worth 25%. Students have access to online resources from home, and the department provides additional support through intervention and revision sessions.

Year 7

French

  • Term 1 – how you feel, French alphabet, birthdays, numbers, how to use a dictionary
  • Term 2 – family, physical descriptions, character descriptions
  • Term 3 – character descriptions, extension of family, animals, likes/dislikes, like/dislikes of food
  • Term 4 – likes/dislikes of food, what do you eat and when, what you would like to eat
  • Term 5 – Likes/ dislikes of food, expressing opinions, recap of term four and five so far, questions and answers in a café
  • Term 6 – questions and answers in a café, hobbies, present tense verbs

German

  • Term 1 – greetings, introductions, the alphabet, numbers, age, months, birthdays, alphabet, phonics
  • Term 2 – countries, school bag equipment, conjugating verbs, writing assessment
  • Term 3 – brothers and sisters, describing a family, opinions, characteristics, intensifiers, colours
  • Term 4 – describing her, eyes, height, size, pets, reading and listening assessments
  • Term 5 – school subjects, describing timetables, time, days of the week, break time snacks, school uniform, describing schools, the German school system, writing assessment
  • Term 6 – sport, activities, adverbs of frequency

Spanish

  • Term 1 – how you feel, Spanish alphabet, birthdays, numbers
  • Term 2 – family, physical descriptions, character descriptions
  • Term 3 – pets and descriptions, likes/ dislikes, what do you eat and when, what you would like to eat
  • Term 4 – likes/ dislikes of food, expressing opinions, recap of term 4 and 5 so far, questions and answers in a café
  • Term 5 – focus on verbs, sports and time, present tense verbs
  • Term 6 – free time activities with present tense verbs, free time with opinions plus infinitives

Year 8

French

  • Term 1 – time, daily routine, school routine, school subjects
  • Term 2 – school subjects, school timetable with opinions, school uniform, break time food and drink
  • Term 3 – jobs, disadvantages and advantages of jobs, the near future tense, future plans
  • Term 4 – places in town, what you can do in your own town, directions
  • Term 5 – where we live, rooms in the house, my ideal house
  • Term 6 – a visit to Paris, describing Paris and what you did there, opinions of Paris, weather, Bastille Day, describing an evening out in the past tense

German

  • Term 1 – recap of sports, hobbies and favourite things, telling the time, arranging to go out, adventure centre
  • Term 2 – past tense
  • Term 3 – countries, transport, accommodation, weather, activities
  • Term 4 – lost property, holiday consolidation
  • Term 5 – town buildings, opinions, comparisons
  • Term 6 – where you live, type surprises, rooms in the house, household activities, bedroom furniture, prepositions

Spanish

  • Term 1 – free-time, daily routine
  • Term 2 – school
  • Term 3 – my house
  • Term 4 – my town
  • Term 5 – holidays
  • Term 6 – holidays

Year 9

French

  • Term 1 & 2 – describing TV, music and film, free time activities
  • Term 3 – talking about technology
  • Term 4 & 5 – talking about sports
  • Term 6 – describing holiday

German

  • Term 1 – pocket money, items to save for, items to spend money on, shops, shop dialogues, directions
  • Term 2 – market items, market dialogues, body parts, illnesses, doctor dialogues, writing assessment
  • Term 3 – staying healthy, breakfast food
  • Term 4 – lunch on dinner food, snack food, ordering food
  • Term 5 – types of film, types of TV show, life on line, listening and reading assessments
  • Term 6 – types of music, ambitions, adventure sports, jobs, hotel booking, ambitions, listening, reading and writing assessments

Spanish

  • Term 1 – holidays, directions
  • Term 2 – free-time activities
  • Term 3 – using computers, TV, films, music
  • Term 4 – illness, body parts, healthy living, unhealthy living
  • Term 5 – buying food and drink, eating out, Spanish life and customs, La Tomatina
  • Term 6 – marriage, personal relationships, relationships with family

Year 10

French

  • Term 1 – identity and relationship with others
  • Term 2 – healthy living and lifestyle
  • Term 3 – education and work
  • Term 4 – free-time activities
  • Term 5 – customs, festivals and celebrations
  • Term 6 – celebrity culture

German

  • Term 1 – identity and relationships with others
  • Term 2 – healthy living and lifestyle
  • Term 3 – education and work
  • Term 4 – free-time activities
  • Term 5 – customs, festivals and celebrations
  • Term 6 – celebrity culture

Spanish

  • Term 1 – identity and relationships with others
  • Term 2 – healthy living and lifestyle
  • Term 3 – education and work
  • Term 4 – free-time activities
  • Term 5 – customs, festivals and celebrations
  • Term 6 – celebrity culture

Year 11

French

  • Term 1 – travel and tourism
  • Term 2 – media and technology
  • Term 3 – the environment

German

  • Term 1 – travel and tourism
  • Term 2 – media and technology
  • Term 3 – the environment

Spanish

  • Term 1 – travel and tourism
  • Term 2 – media and technology
  • Term 3 – the environment