Modern Foreign Languages

The MFL department is a vibrant, forward thinking department which is constantly striving to raise standards, achievement and the appreciation of foreign language and cultures.

The MFL department is a high motivated and innovative team which is always willing to experiment with new practices in teaching and learning. We consider ourselves to be at the forefront of the use of ICT with every team member using the interactive whiteboard for the majority of lessons.

All MFL staff are encouraged to become members of working groups, such as the Teaching and Learning Group and Enterprise Team. Within the department there are currently 6 full-time teachers, and 1 part-time teacher, of which we have two Spanish specialists, 2 German specialists and 3 French specialists.

We are currently experiencing great success with our new Assessment for Learning initiative, implemented particularly in KS3 in September 2006. This has resulted in a huge boost in uptake for MFL at the end of Year 9.

French is the main language taught within the school and students are set a second language Spanish or German on a rotational basis. We currently have 6 A2 French students and 4 A2 German students, most of whom are intent on studying a language at university.

A number of strategies have been put in place to improve GCSE results in French, including a focus on coursework and speaking skills.

Staff have organised and run the KS3 trip to France for a number of years. This has always been a hugely successful and enjoyable trip for all involved. We have also worked closely with the University of Northumbria to try to highlight the importance of language learning to Year 9 students and have been fortunate enough to have guestspeakers
talk to our students during our Year 9 Language Day.