Modern Foreign Languages

KEY STAGE THREE

The following areas are studied during Key Stage Three:

YEAR 7 FRENCH

Year 7 are taught in mixed ability groups (4 hours a fortnight).  During these lessons we teach students to develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as a sound knowledge of vocabulary and grammar rules which ensures they make  progress and become increasingly more confident about using the language in both spoken and written forms.

YEAR 7 MANDARIN

We are offering Mandarin to 2 of our Yr 7 classes instead of French where students will develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as a sound knowledge of Chinese culture.

YEAR 8  FRENCH

Students will carry on building on what they have learnt through different topics.

Students will learn more about family and where they live and then jobs and weather.

Topics covered include:  weekend activities, TV programmes, clothes, shopping, making excuses,  food around the table and at the market, countries, languages, holidays, pocket money,  and technology.

Grammar:  present, perfect tense, future, modal verbs in the present, prepositions, connectives, question words, “il faut” + infinitive.

YEAR  8 GERMAN AND SPANISH

As beginners students will be learning about phonics and basic German/Spanish grammar which should give them confidence to approach the language.

Topics covered include: numbers 1– 100, days of the week, months, birthdays, family (description of hair, eyes), pets, colours, where people live (description of the house), time, towns, household chores, school life, free time activities and arranging to go out.

Grammar: present tense of regular verbs and “to have” and “to be”, some use of the accusative, use of prepositions and the dative case and plurals.

YEAR 8 LATIN

Beginners Latinists will be exposed to Latin using Telling Tales in Latin which introduces the ancient language in a lively, clear, and accessible way alongside much loved classical stories. They are also introduced to a range of classical civilisations and topics, from the Minoans and Mycenaeans to Plato's philosophy.

Students have the opportunity to attend workshops and talks, go on trips to heritage sites and museums, take part in archaeological and museum-based projects and many other aspects.

YEAR 9  FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH

At this stage, students are given an opportunity to review their language courses.

Most students continue to study at least one language up to GCSE.

All students will carry on building on what they have learnt through different topics.

 

KEY STAGE FOUR

The following courses are studied at Key Stage Four:

GCSE FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH

A two-year course, based on 5 hours a fortnight, which will be built on the knowledge and skills learnt from previous work in Years 7, 8 and 9.

Students  will learn how to describe what they think about a variety of topics: holidays, films, TV, personal relationships, school life, the environment, the world of work, future career plans, amongst others.

At the end of the course, students will be assessed on the four skills (Listening/Reading/Speaking/Writing) to check their understanding, interacting, communicating and responding to different types of language. All skills will represent 25% of the GCSE. Examination board AQA.

The ability to speak a foreign language is becoming increasingly sought after, whatever career is chosen. Linguists learn how to communicate effectively both in their writing and speaking.  This makes candidates more desirable to a potential employer or university.

2021 Speaking survival guide GCSE

GCSE LATIN

LATIN (For more details, please visit our Classics page)

A two-year course, timetabled on Mondays and Wednesdays 8.30 - 9.00am and then 3.10 - 4.40pm.

The OCR Latin GCSE course is divided into two disciplines, language and literature. Lessons are dedicated to studying syntax, grammar, vocabulary and unseen translations, and also in depth analysis of powerful and influential Roman prose and verse authors.

The course is both challenging and highly rewarding; students will find that the skills acquired from a GCSE in Latin will help them in a number of their other GCSE options.

Students are extremely fortunate to be able to benefit from the many talks, plays , museums and other events held in the city of Oxford, both at the Faculty of Classics and at Cheney School’s own Classics Centre.

 

KEY STAGE FIVE

The following course are studied at Key Stage Five:

LATIN (For more details, please visit our Classics page)

Latin at A-Level allows students to deepen their knowledge of Ancient Roman culture and literature, and to improve the language skills developed for GCSE.

The authors vary from year to year: recently these have been Catullus, Virgil, Ovid, Horace and Cicero. These authors wrote works which have had a deep and lasting influence upon many later societies and the Latin A-Level course offers the opportunity to study them in depth, exploring the beauty of their language and also the context within which their greatest works were written. The course provides an excellent grounding. The examinations on the literature include passages for comment and criticism, translation into idiomatic English and an essay on one of the major themes illustrated in the text.

FRENCH AND SPANISH

During this two year course, students will enhance their linguistic skills, promote and develop their capacity for critical thinking on the basis of their knowledge and understanding of the language, culture and society of the country or countries where the language is spoken.

Students will be assessed on the 4 skills (Listening, Reading, speaking and Writing), including some translation as well as literature work, at the end of the two year course.

Sixth Form Wider Reading and Discovery Lists for A-Level Spanish

Sixth Form Wider Reading and Discovery Lists for A-Level French