“A foreign accent is a sign of bravery.” Amy Chua  

Through our teaching of Modern Foreign Languages, we believe we nurture learners who are confident and effective communicators, alongside developing their understanding of and empathy for other cultures and the individual. Scientific studies consistently confirm that language-learning actively improves brain health and function, producing higher academic performance, improved concentration, more powerful memory and stronger communication skills. By thus boosting our students’ transferable skill set, the MFL Department plays a significant role in promoting our students’ performance across the wider curriculum and in improving their life chances. 

Effective communication is achieved through: 

• An oral tradition, through which learners succeed in applying increasingly complex grammatical concepts and a secure knowledge of phonics to a growing range of vocabulary. This promotes linguistic autonomy across the four key modalities: listening, speaking, reading and writing (Developing body through greater self-expression and listening skills). 
• Exploring a wide variety of topics and sub-topics studied in the contexts of both the UK and relevant countries abroad: Identity and culture, Local area, Holidays and travel, School, future aspirations and work and the International and global dimension.  (Developing mind through cognitive skills) 

Piquing learners’ curiosity in discovering an array of other cultures. As they become increasingly inquisitive, open-minded and adaptable, students’ grow in confidence, empathy, independence and resilience.  (Developing character through research and LotC opportunities) 

Students will be resilient, able to communicate confidently and to forge respectful relationships. They will thrive through immersing themselves in culture, language and knowledge. They will have a life-long love of language learning and a desire to travel and learn more about the global community. They will take their linguistic and transferable skills into their places of further study and the workplace.

“Studying MFL inspires me to travel and explore new things in life. It has helped me to improve my resilience and self-confidence.” Year 9 student 

Spanish Curriculum Overview

French Curriculum Overview 

At Blacon High School, we are fortunate that a number of our students speak additional languages. We highly value the enrichment that cultural diversity brings to our school community and we consider multilingualism a skill which is worthy of celebration. For this reason, we aim to enter eligible Year 11 students for GCSE qualifications in any of the available additional languages. This offers them recognition for their linguistic ability and, of course, an extra formal qualification.

The foreign language GCSE examines the four key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Each skill contributes 25% towards a final grade so it is essential that a candidate is able to read and write. If a student has an additional language but communicates only verbally at home, we advise that parents/guardians begin, at the earliest opportunity, to support them in reinforcing and developing their literacy skills. Candidates do not need to be reading and writing ‘experts’ to succeed at GCSE but they must certainly have some ability in these areas. The Modern Languages Department is able to advise further and welcome any inquiries.

Arabic, Bengali, Biblical Hebrew, Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese speaking element), French, German, Greek, Gujurati, Italian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu

If you believe your child could be a suitable candidate for GCSE entry in one of the above languages, we ask that you contact the Modern Languages Department as soon as possible so that we may begin to offer you our personalised guidance and support. We will also be able to direct you to one of our Additional Languages Google Classrooms, where we provide a range of resources and subject-specific information. In the meantime, please feel free to follow one of the links above, where you will be able to view the relevant GCSE specification (exam syllabus) and access a range of past papers / mark schemes. 

 

 

KS4 French

Key Stage 4 French students follow the Edexcel GCSE French specification. 

 

KS4 Spanish

Key Stage 4 Spanish students follow the Edexcel GCSE Spanish specification. 

 

The full Edexcel French and Spanish specification can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

French

Additional subject specific materials and resources to support learning in French can be found be visiting the websites below.

Click on the KS3 BBC bitesize logo to visit their website

 

Click on the KS3 Oak Academy logo to visit their website

Click on the GCSE BBC bitesize logo to visit their website

Click on the KS4 Oak Academy logo to visit their website

 

Spanish

Additional subject specific materials and resources to support learning in Spanish can be found be visiting the websites below.

Click on the KS3 BBC bitesize logo to visit their website

 

Click on the KS3 Oak Academy logo to visit their website

Click on the GCSE BBC bitesize logo to visit their website

Click on the KS4 Oak Academy logo to visit their website

 

There are many different careers linked to Languages that you may be interested in.

Click on the First Careers logo to visit their website

Click on the Planit logo to visit their website