Bonjour! Hola! Guten Tag! Ciao!

Welcome to the Modern Foreign Languages department.

At SVCS, we believe in encouraging our students to speak foreign languages independently in order to prepare them for further education and life in the global village. We also seek to develop a cultural and linguistic curiosity about the world. We use songs, literary extracts, extracts from films and other authentic resources to promote the enjoyment of language learning and to explore the cultures of some of the many countries where these languages are spoken. We also seek to develop our students’ memory, retention and recall as well as their oracy skills in language lessons.

Key Stage 3

In Year 7, we begin by studying the phonics (i.e. the sound-spelling relationships) of French and Spanish and we also teach strategies for reading foreign language texts such as recognising cognates and using clues from the context to infer meaning. We encourage our students to identify patterns and links between English and the languages we study, since they are both derived from Latin. We build on prior language learning by completing a transition project at the start of the year which has a cultural and grammatical focus.

In order to further enable our students to speak foreign languages with enjoyment and confidence, whilst also developing their skills in presenting to an audience, we take part in the regional “Have Your Say” competition for schools. 

Key Stage 4

At GCSE, students learn how to develop their language skills and to speak with increasing confidence and spontaneity. We provide a firm grammar foundation that enables students to use the language with accuracy and we expect them to use it with increasing complexity and detail. 

The GCSE course is based on five themes that build on topics studied at Key Stage 3 and anticipate some of the topics students may encounter at A level: Identity and culture, Local area, holiday and travel, School, Future aspirations, study and work and International and global dimension. These themes allow students to explore topics areas such as family relationships, cultural events and ethical shopping.

In class, activities include working with a partner or in a small group on speaking tasks, listening to a range of French/ Spanish recordings including songs, for both gist and detail; translating short passages from French/Spanish to English and vice versa; reading a range of different types of texts including extracts from literature; discovering more about French/Spanish-speaking people, how they live and about their interests and concerns in order to develop a broader cultural awareness; and finally practising expressing your own ideas and opinions using French/Spanish.

Through studying a language at GCSE, students benefit from improved presentation and memorisation skills and the organisation and self-discipline required by the academic rigour required to truly learn how a foreign language fits together. Not only do we prepare our students to aspire to the standards required at A level, we also equip them with the skills needed to begin a life of travel, collaboration and exploration. 

Exam board

We follow the Pearson exam board. This is the link to the specification:

Spanish Exam Board Specification

French Exam Board Specification