Modern Foreign Languages

Languages are a part of the cultural richness of the world in which our students will go on to live and work. Learning languages contributes to mutual understanding and a sense of global citizenship, necessary for an outward looking person in this changing world. This is what we want for our students at Allestree Woodlands School. We aim to build on the existing linguistic skills of our students while helping our students learn a new language or build further on the language they studied at primary school. 

The languages team provides a culturally rich experience of language learning in either French, German or Spanish. Our teaching builds on the three pillars of language learning; phonics, vocabulary recall skills and teaching of grammar to engage our students as we make learning a new language relevant and useful as a skill for life. We build on a foundation of core grammar knowledge, building up knowledge of tenses and revisiting them with increasing levels of complexity. We focus on recall of key vocabulary in each topic across the four skill areas (speaking, listening, reading and writing) as well as teaching translation skills in preparation for their exams.

We support students that already have the ability to speak and write in one of the community languages available at GCSE and A-level, to sit their exams during KS4 and KS5. We are pleased to offer this provision, recognising that bilingualism can improve career chances.

To broaden our students’ understanding of the world around them, students will learn to appreciate different countries and cultures as we incorporate festivals, traditions and places of interest into our teaching. Our curriculum goes beyond our classroom as we offer a variety of trips abroad to allow our students to experience the language and culture they are studying first hand

Head of MFL:

Mrs Campbell

Teachers of MFL:

Miss McEntee, Miss Lees and Miss Joynson