Contact:

Ms Walton

Course Information

In Key Stage 3 Languages we strive to foster an interest in and understanding of other cultures in the world. Students are encouraged to express themselves in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. They are encouraged to use the target language spontaneously in the classroom and are taught to read authentic texts, to transcribe and translate.

In Year 7 we alternate each year between French and German as the first language. The majority of students then pick up the other language in Year 8 and are placed into second language sets based on their achievement in Year 7.

Course Content

Course Content
Year 7Pupils are introduced to the basic language of greetings, numbers, alphabet, colours etc. They also learn to give simple information about themselves, their family and pets and how to describe them. They go on to learn to talk about their houses and where they live. They then learn activities and also how to tell the time in French. They are taught a variety of grammatical concepts throughout the year including adjectival agreements and how to form the present tense.
Year 8Students learn to express likes and dislikes, the vocabulary for food and drinks and how to order in a café or restaurant. Pupils start to give more detailed information about where they live, learn to describe places in a town and go on to learn how to understand and give directions. They also cover the topic of free time, including sports and hobbies, and are introduced to forming the immediate future tense.
Year 9Students cover in detail the general topic of holidays using the past, present and future tenses. They then learn the language needed to describe all aspects of school life. They go on to study the world of work and jobs vocabulary and then learn to talk about different types of films and TV programmes. By the end of Year 9 they will have met structures to talk/write in the past, present and future tenses and to express their opinions clearly.

Extra Curricular Opportunities

Trips to Paris and Disneyland/Cologne and Phantasialand are offered at the end of Year 7. We also organise exchange visits to Die in France and Wetter in Germany for our older students, including Year 9.

There are many online resources which students can access to further improve their language skills. The advantage of these is that they offer immediate feedback to the learner. The main website that students are encouraged to use is www.linguascope.co.uk. Students should ask their teacher for the password to access these resources. Students are also expected to regularly revise vocabulary that they have met to make sure it stays in their long-term memory. They can also research further vocabulary on the topics met in class and vocabulary in areas of their own, personal interests.

Assessment

Students are assessed in the four skills of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing on a termly basis. Vocabulary tests are given fortnightly to encourage students to memorise words and phrases covered. Extended homework projects are set once or twice per term in Years 7 and 8 whilst shorter homework tasks are set on a fortnightly basis in Year 9.

If you have any questions or queries relating to the Languages curriculum please email bwalton@anthonygell.co.uk for more information.