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Modern Foreign Languages

Modern foreign languages

Language skills broaden horizons, instil confidence and deepen cultural appreciation and understanding, enabling individuals to access the benefits and richness of the globalised world.

The Modern Foreign Languages department at The Academy at Shotton Hall utilises these central beliefs to develop curious and confident language learners of the future, who have the knowledge and skills to succeed on local, national and international levels as well as in the global employment market. We currently teach French to all year groups. 

Built around the core principles of phonics, vocabulary and grammar, the MFL curriculum provides students with functional knowledge and skills to enable them to describe people, places and objects, express feelings, describe routines and sequence events alongside talking in the past, present and future. We use childhood language acquisition approaches to accelerate language learning, with students developing high-frequency, core language across all year groups, providing the key knowledge and skills to use and understand language with increasing complexity and sophistication in speaking, listening, reading and writing. 

Curriculum information

In addition to our aim of creating independent, motivated language learners, MFL also contributes to the development of cultural capital in a variety of ways every lesson. Language and culture are explored, covering a variety of familiar and unfamiliar contexts. 

Year  

Autumn  

Spring  

Summer  

7  

Introductions, family, pets and personality 

School 

Town 

Food and drink 

Clothes 

8  

Sports and hobbies 

Holidays 

Healthy living 

Film and TV 

Technology 

Weather 

9  

Family relationships, describing people 

House and home 

Jobs and the world of work 

Events and celebrations

 Transport and the environment 

Numbers and statistics 

10  

Family, friends and relationships

Healthy living and food

Education and work

Free-time activities

Celebrity culture

Customs, festivals and celebrations

11  

Social and global issues  

Environment 

Jobs and the world of word, post-16 education Preparation for speaking examination  

GCSE examination s 

The way that we learn French sounds in class really helps develop our French accent and speaking skills. I am really proud of how far mine have come since I started learning French in Year 7
Year 11 student
The reason why I like French is that every lesson is a surprise. There are a million different ways to learn a language, so for each lesson you can have as much fun as you want.
Year 9 student