Modern Languages

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Statement of Intent

The LDA ML Curriculum intends to inspire all pupils to foster a love of learning languages, acquiring the linguistic skill and cultural knowledge to communicate as an effective global citizen.

Curriculum Aims

The Languages Curriculum at Lord Derby Academy builds on the National Curriculum. At LDA, we believe that learning an additional language provides a valuable social, cultural and educational experience for all pupils. Pupils explore a variety of engaging themes whilst developing competencies in listening, reading, speaking, writing and translation. Pupils are encouraged to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to speakers, both through speech and writing.

A strong grammatical core underpins the Languages Curriculum, allowing pupils to communicate in an increasingly spontaneous manner as they traverse Key Stages. Not least among our aims, is a desire to foster within our students a love of learning Languages, allowing them to experience different cultures and develop an appreciation of the values.

The curriculum is designed to teach acceptance and engagement with the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Curriculum Pathway

Click here to view the ML Curriculum Pathway.

Curriculum Model 2022-2023

In KS3 pupils will experience three lessons of Spanish per week. Pupils will also be exposed to French language and culture through our cultural enrichment programme. During the options process in Year 9, pupils have the option to study three Languages at GCSE, French, Spanish and German.

KS3 Languages Overview

Year 7
Rationale: At the start of Year 7, pupils focus on transition into secondary school through the study of School Life. Pupils learn new concepts of noun gender, adjectival agreement, basic conjugation of regular verbs and opinions. Pupils move on to study their Local Environment which will introduce a wider range of verbs and clauses, asking and answering questions and increase the breadth of vocabulary. Later, pupils explore personal and physical description through the design of their very own Spanish Robot in the All About Me unit! Adjectival agreement, opinions and basic conjugation will be re-visited whilst acquiring new vocabulary. Later, pupils study their Local Environment which will introduce a wider range of verbs and clauses, asking and answering questions and increase the breadth of vocabulary. During the Leisure module, pupils reinforce the grammatical concepts learnt throughout the year alongside the acquisition of new vocabulary. Spanish Artists is the final study of Year 7 providing great cultural opportunities and cross-curricular links.

Year 8
Rationale: At the start of Year 8, pupils focus on healthy living through the study of My Healthy Life. Pupils will start to understand and apply the concept of modal verbs and basic near future tense phrases in Spanish. Pupils will then be immersed in a celebration of cultural diversity in the Spanish Speaking World unit. Here, pupils learn more about Spanish Festivals including how Christmas is celebrated across different Faiths around the world. Modal verbs will be built on alongside the introduction of comparatives whilst acquiring new vocabulary. Later, pupils enhance their cultural capital in the Holidays module which will introduce the concept of the past tense. During the Technology module, pupils reinforce the grammatical concepts learnt throughout the year whilst building breadth of vocabulary. Finally, through the study of the film Coco, pupils learn about Mexican culture whilst applying two tenses with confidence.

Year 9
Rationale: At the start of Year 9, pupils take a virtual trip around Barcelona; exploring global community, building on adjectives, opinions and comparatives. Pupils move on to more complex opinion phrases, acquiring technical vocabulary and CV writing skills through the World of Work unit. The Latin America Culture study allows pupils to reinforce a wide range of grammatical concepts, build new vocabulary and gain an understanding of historic events. Later, pupils build on the local environment study from Year 8 to the Environment on a global level introducing a wider range of verbs and clauses, through the investigation of ethical and global issues. Endangered animals, a cross curricular link will be the final study of Year 9 providing pupils with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding in three different tenses and complex grammatical concepts using a wide range of vocabulary.

KS3 Modular Overviews

Click here to view the detailed overview of the Languages content taught throughout KS3. Each modular overview provides information on the knowledge and skills taught at each stage within the intended curriculum.

Homework

Homework is set on a weekly basis and carefully sequenced to revisit, revise and consolidate vocabulary and grammar from previous topics.

Enrichment

Enrichment is offered in ML through a variety of pathways; examples include:

KS2 & KS3 ML Spelling Bee competition and collaboration with Primary Schools
European week of Languages
Mexican Day of the Dead Celebration
Spanish exchange hosting
University Language Aptitude Competition

Useful Websites

Pupils are encouraged to use our ICT facilities within the department to consolidate vocabulary and grammatical knowledge. The ML department provides pupils with access to the following websites:
www.memrise.com Pupils are provided with a log in and password to compete with other pupils in the year group. Teachers can oversee the amount of time and topics covered by the pupils.
www.wordreference.com We encourage our pupils to use this site and avoid online translations to contextualise vocabulary and widen their understanding of colloquial language.
www.activelearn.com This site has a range of activities to encompass listening, reading, writing and verb conjugation. Teachers can set additional tasks as homework or during intervention sessions.

Faculty

Mr M Wynne: Head of Department
Mrs E Jamieson: Teacher of Modern Languages
Mrs S Greaves: Teacher of Modern Languages
Miss O Creely: Teacher of Modern Languages
Miss P Dolan: Teacher of Modern Languages