What is our curriculum intent?

Our intent is to open all students’ minds to the multicultural world in which we live. We aim to develop students' knowledge and understanding of the language and culture of the French, German and Spanish speaking worlds which will in turn prepare them to live and work in an increasingly international environment.

A high quality MFL curriculum opens doors for our students and helps them to flourish in life, learning and work. We believe that all students can learn and progress in a language. We therefore aim for all our students to gain at least substantial knowledge of the language they have chosen to study, supporting effective learning through appropriate scaffolding.

Our curriculum helps to build students’ cultural capital by incorporating key cultural aspects of the French, German and Spanish speaking worlds, including, but not limited to history, geography, the arts and customs. The ultimate aim of learning modern foreign languages is for students eventually to be able to use higher level thinking skills in order to think critically and debate a range of global issues from various perspectives, including political, historical and cultural matters.

Through the teaching of language skills, we also aim to develop young people of character who feel confident to communicate in a variety of situations.

Each of the AQA GCSE Modern Foreign Language courses that we offer - French, German and Spanish – is designed to build on the knowledge and skills that you acquired at Key Stage 3 in order to increase your ability to understand and communicate in a wider context. These GCSEs will prepare you for further language study whether academic, business or leisure-orientated. They also broaden your view of the world and other cultures. 

Why learn a language?

All members of the MFL team are passionate linguists who believe in the importance of language learning. But why should young people feel the same way and choose to continue learning a language?

  1. Languages are a life skill: Knowledge of a foreign language is not just another GCSE grade; it is a concrete and demonstrable life skill that is highly valued by employers.
  2. Languages teach you cultural awareness: The ability to operate cross-culturally is becoming just as valued by employers as straight language skills.
  3. Languages give you a sense of achievement: Learning a language combines the intellectual with the practical as no other subject does. You need to be able to think on your feet, but when you can find exactly the right foreign word or phrase, you get a real sense of achievement.
  4. Languages are a social skill: Languages are very sociable. If you enjoy being with people and communicating with them, then  you’ll enjoy being able to do this in a foreign language too.
  5. Languages give you the edge in the job market: Today there is a global market for jobs. The multitude of skills you develop through learning a language, such as communication skills, make you an asset to any potential employer. Employers understand that potential employees with language qualifications have risen to a challenge, and it can really set you above  other applicants. 
  6. Learning languages gives you greater opportunities to travel and work abroad: There are many opportunities to travel or work with organisations abroad where some knowledge of a foreign language is a clear advantage. Many people with language GCSE or A Level qualifications take on work placements abroad or study abroad for one year as part of their further study courses. 
  7. Languages can be combined with virtually any subject for further study: The range of combined degrees and further education courses involving a language is limitless. Many people choose to combine a language with economics, business, politics, law, journalism, science and many more. Learning one of the three languages we offer in school also makes it easier for you to pick up other languages later on and many students go on to learn languages such as Italian, Mandarin, Russian and Japanese at a  later stage. 

How do we implement our curriculum?

The outline below references German, but both French and Spanish will be studied and assessed in exactly the same way:

This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams at the end of the course.

Subject content

Core content

Students study all of the following themes on which the assessments are based.

  • Theme 1: People and lifestyle
  • Theme 2: Popular culture
  • Theme 3: Communication and the world around us

How do we measure the impact of the course?

GCSE languages have a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series. The outline below is for German, but is the same across all languages.

Paper 1: Listening

What is assessed?

  • Understanding and responding to spoken extracts comprising the defined vocabulary and grammar for each tier
  • Dictation of short, spoken extracts

How is it assessed?

· Written exam: 35 minutes (Foundation Tier), 45 minutes (Higher Tier)

· 40 marks (Foundation Tier), 50 marks (Higher Tier)

· 25% of GCSE

(Each exam includes 5 minutes’ reading time of the question paper before the listening stimulus is played.)

Questions
Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

  • Section A – listening comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally (32 marks at Foundation tier and 40 marks at Higher tier)
  • Section B – dictation where students transcribe short sentences, including a small number of words from outside the prescribed vocabulary list (8 marks at Foundation tier and 10 marks at Higher tier)

Paper 2: Speaking

What is assessed?

  • Speaking using clear and comprehensible language to undertake a Role-play
  • Carry out a Reading aloud task
  • Talk about visual stimuli

How is it assessed?

· Speaking examination

· 7–9 minutes (Foundation Tier) + 15 minutes preparation time

· 10–12 minutes (Higher Tier) + 15 minutes preparation time

·50 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)

· 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation Tier and Higher Tier

The format is the same at Foundation tier and Higher tier, but with different stimulus materials for the Role-play and the Reading aloud task. For the Photo card task, the same photos are used at both tiers.

  • Role-play – 10 marks (recommended to last between 1 and 1.5 minutes at both tiers)
  • Reading aloud task and short conversation – 15 marks (recommended to last in total between 2 and 2.5 minutes at Foundation tier and between 3 and 3.5 minutes at Higher tier)
    • Reading aloud task: minimum 35 words of text at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier
    • Short unprepared conversation
  • Photo card discussion – 25 marks (recommended to last between 4 and 5 minutes in total at Foundation tier, and between 6 and 7 minutes in total at Higher tier)
    • Response to the content of the photos on the card (recommended to last approximately 1 minute at Foundation tier and approximately 1.5 minutes at Higher tier)
    • Unprepared conversation (recommended to last between 3 and 4 minutes at Foundation tier and between 4.5 and 5.5 minutes at Higher tier)

Paper 3: Reading

What is assessed?

  • Understanding and responding to written texts which focus predominantly on the vocabulary and grammar at each tier
  • Inferring plausible meanings of single words when they are embedded in written sentences
  • Translating into English

How is it assessed?

· Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation Tier), 1 hour (Higher Tier)

· 50 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)

· 25% of GCSE

Questions

  • Section A – reading comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non- verbally (40 marks)
  • Section B – translation from German into English, minimum of 35 words at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier (10 marks)

Paper 4: Writing

What is assessed?

  • Writing text in the language in a lexically and grammatically accurate way in response to simple and familiar stimuli
  • Translating from English into German

How is it assessed?

Written exam: 1 hour 10 minutes (Foundation Tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher Tier)

· 50 marks at both Foundation and Higher Tier

· 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation tier

  • Question 1 – student produces five short sentences in response to a photo (10 marks)
  • Question 2 – student produces a short piece of writing in response to five compulsory bullet points, approximately 50 words in total (10 marks)
  • Question 3 – student completes five short grammar tasks (5 marks)
  • Question 4 – translation of sentences from English into German, minimum 35 words in total (10 marks)
  • Question 5 (overlap question) – student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)

Higher tier

  • Question 1 – translation of sentences from English into German, minimum 50 words in total (10 marks)
  • Question 2 (overlap question) – student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)
  • Question 3 – open-ended writing task (student responds to two bullets, producing approximately 150 words in total). There is a choice from two questions (25 marks)

What we teach when

Year 10Year 11
HT1- Identity and relationships with others HT1- Travel and tourism 
HT2- Healthy living and lifestyle HT2- Media and technology 
HT3- Education and work HT3- The environment and where people live 
HT4- Free time activities HT4 & 5- revision and exams 
HT5- Customs, festivals & celebrations 
HT6- Celebrity culture 

For the current Year 11 cohort (2025 Entry) of 'What we teach when', please follow this link.

How can students be supported through learning at home?

Students will be set regular independent tasks to help them to develop and build confidence in the main skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking and to practise grammar. Students will regularly learn vocabulary to broaden their knowledge of the language throughout the course, to enable them to confidently tackle more challenging texts and listening exercises. Students will have online access to Kerboodle  (an online learning resource, which enables them to access the text book from home, along with additional reading and listening activities to cement their knowledge). In addition, students will be able to refer back to material from the lesson and make use of additional support through our Firefly resources. 

What extra opportunities to learn are available?

At Wilmslow High School,  we do our best to offer students the chance to visit the target language country in Year 10. This opportunity provides students with the invaluable platform to broaden their cultural and linguistic knowledge by experiencing it and practising first-hand. Students will interact with young people from the country and potentially forge lifelong friendships. Taking part in such trips can be a formative experience for young people, who not only practise their language skills, but also grow in confidence and maturity in the process.

How are students grouped?

Students are grouped according to option pool. Support sessions are also planned to provide extra help where necessary, including (but not limited to) lunchtime support clubs, after school intervention/ revision, and additional speaking practice .

What websites do we recommend?

The new examination board specifications can be found at:

Students looking to consolidate, enrich or extend their knowledge and understanding might start at:

Contact

Mr B Hollis: bhollis@wilmslowhigh.com

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.”

Flora Lewis

Flora Lewis