The aim of the MFL department is to create confident and competent life-long language learners. We encourage students to apply their linguistic knowledge to understand and communicate confidently and effectively in a variety of situations. We work as a team to deliver stimulating, challenging and enjoyable lessons that are accessible to all students and which enable them to realise their full potential. We also aim to raise awareness of the richness and diversity of other cultures so that pupils encounter different ways of seeing the world, and develop an international outlook.
All boys in Key Stage 3 are entitled to study a modern foreign language, and we encourage boys to continue with either French or Spanish at GCSE level. We aim to develop the practical skills involved in language learning: communication, team-working, inter-personal, problem-solving, and organisation.
At Isleworth & Syon School, we strongly believe that learning a language can be good fun. Furthermore, the ability to communicate in a foreign language is invaluable when applying for universities and jobs. Speaking a foreign language is a vital skill, as 75% of the world’s population does not speak English and 60% of Britain’s trade is with non-English speaking countries. British businesses lose millions every year because they cannot speak their customers’ languages, and universities value MFL qualifications very highly.
Each year, we aim to offer trips to France in order to enable our students to put the language skills they have learned into practice. We also have a range of extra-curricular activities for students to get involved in.
Summary
All boys at Isleworth & Syon learn either French or Spanish at KS3.
The MFL curriculum is fully differentiated to challenge and support students of all abilities. In Key Stage 3 French, we use the ‘Dynamo’ and ‘Studio’ textbooks, NCELP lessons, interactive electronic resources, games and songs to engage students in the language.
Curriculum Content
Year 7
Curriculum
In Year 7 students study the following topics in French:
Autumn 1 – Personal Information (How to describe yourself, your age and birthday)
Autumn 2 – School (school subjects, timetable, uniform, opinions)
Spring 1 – Hobbies (how to say what you do on your phones and computers, sports and opinions)
Spring 2 – Living environment (how to describe where you live, your family and celebrations)
Summer 1 – Holidays (talking about your weekend, your plans, a visit to Paris, ordering in a café)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies
Assessment
Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.
In the speaking assessment students are asked questions in French by their teacher based on a picture stimulus card/role-play and they should answer in the target language.
In the listening test, students complete exercises after listening to several extracts in the target language. In the reading test, students complete exercises on texts written in the foreign language, including authentic texts. Finally, students produce a piece of writing on the topic and translate short pieces of language into and out of English.
Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)
Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.
Further Resources
The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 7 curriculum.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
Year 8
Curriculum
In Year 8, students study the following topics in French:
Autumn 1 – Jobs and celebrations (how to say what job you do and how you celebrate)
Autumn 2 – Free time (what you are doing and what you did)
Spring 1 – A typical day (what your daily routine is like during the week and at weekends)
Spring 2 – Talking about birthdays and how people feel (describing what you do for your birthday and others’ emotions)
Summer 1 – Comparing things and how others do things (making comparisons and using the third person to describe what others do)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies (Francophonie)
Assessment
Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.
In the speaking assessment students are asked questions in French by their teacher based on a picture stimulus card/role-play and they should answer in the target language.
In the listening test, students complete exercises after listening to several extracts in the target language. In the reading test, students complete exercises on texts written in the foreign language, including authentic texts. Finally, students produce a piece of writing on the topic and translate short pieces of language into and out of English.
Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)
Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.
Further Resources
The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 8 curriculum.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
Year 9
Curriculum
In Year 9, students start studying the topics covered in the GCSE specification. The topics are as follows:
Autumn 1 – Family and home life (students learn how to talk about friends, going out and their relationships with their families)
Autumn 2 – Free-time activities (students describe their leisure activities and discuss different types of entertainment)
Spring 1 – Daily life and festivals (students describe their everyday routines and what they do on special occasions)
Spring 2 – Towns (students talk about where they live and what they can do there)
Summer 1 – Holidays (students describe their holidays in at least three tenses and revise the nous form of the verb)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies
Assessment
Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.
In the speaking assessment students are asked questions in French by their teacher based on a picture stimulus card/role-play and they should answer in the target language.
In the listening test, students complete exercises after listening to several extracts in the target language. In the reading test, students complete exercises on texts written in the foreign language, including authentic texts. Finally, students produce a piece of writing on the topic and translate short pieces of language into and out of English.
Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)
Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.
Further Resources
The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, in order to view activities and discussion points for French. You can log in with the following details:
User: isleworthtw75lj
Pass: theday
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 9 curriculum.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
Summary
Students at Isleworth & Syon can choose to carry on studying French at Key Stage 4 level. In GCSE French, we use the ‘Studio’ textbooks and electronic resources alongside games to engage students in the language.
GCSE French
The Edexcel GCSE specification covers the following themes. Students have already covered 5 modules in Year 9 and will carry on in Y10 and Y11.
Who am I? (relationships; when I was younger; what my family and friends are like; what makes a good friend; interests; socialising with friends and family; role models)
Daily life (customs and everyday life; food and drink; shopping; social media and technology)
Cultural life (celebrations and festivals; reading; music; sports; film and television)
Theme 2: Local area, Holiday and Travel
Holidays (preferences; experiences; destinations)
Travel and tourist transactions (travel and accommodation; asking for help and dealing with problems; directions; eating out; shopping)
Town, region and country (weather; places to see; things to do)
Theme 3: School
What school is like (school types; school day; subjects; rules pressure; celebrating success)
School activities (school trips; events and exchanges)
Theme 4: Future aspirations, study and work
Using languages beyond the classroom (forming relationships; travel; employment)
Ambitions (further study; volunteering; training)
Work (jobs; careers and professions)
Theme 5: International and global dimension
Bringing the world together (sports events; music events; campaigns and good causes)
Environmental issues (being “green”; access to natural resources)
Assessment
Students are assessed by a terminal examination at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework in this GCSE course. Students will be given mock examinations on a regular basis and will be assessed in at least one of the MFL skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) each half-term.
The examinations are as follows:
Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 35 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of French to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to French – 1 hour 10 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade
Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)
Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.
Further Resources
The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 10 curriculum.
EuroNews – a great website to practise your listening skills!
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize – a good resource for practising listening skills.
Summary
The A level French course is aimed at good linguists who have a real interest in French and French culture. The course is based on current issues and debate and also includes cultural topics.
A level French
Specification Code: 9FR0 Level: A level Examination Board: Edexcel
Curriculum
Students will study the following topics:
Immigration and the French multicultural society (the positive impact of immigration on French society; answering the challenges of immigration and integration in France; the far right)
Analytical study of the book ‘L’étranger’ by Albert Camus
Analytical study of the French film ‘Les Intouchables’
Assessment
Students will be assessed in the four skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking) each term.
Further Resources
The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 12 curriculum.
Vocab Express – essential for learning core vocabulary (your teacher will provide you with a login).
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize – a good resource for practising listening skills.
We organise a number of activities for our students. These include:
Cine-Club – once a week at lunchtime.
We are also offering a number of trips throughout the year:
We will offer trips to the British Film Institute to study French cinema to both Year 8 and Year 10 students
Year 7 will have the opportunity to visit Boulogne.
Students will be offered an exchange visit to France linked with a French school.
These visits represent a great opportunity to develop cultural awareness of France, develop confidence and fluency in the language, and increase student motivation.