Languages at NOA
As a department of passionate linguists our curriculum intent is at the core of what we strive to achieve. We believe that the study of a foreign language provides our students with a sense of cultural pluralism.
We aim to broaden the horizons of young people through the ability to communicate in another language in the classroom and beyond.
Cultural capital is the driving factor in our vision. Thus, in the classroom we strive to expose students to authentic resources as it creates awareness around global, social, and political issues that are current in Hispanic/Francophone countries. In order to achieve this newspaper and magazine articles in relation to the topics are embedded into lessons as well as sharing video clips from the news or television programmes. We hope this provides them with another outlook and really showcases how vital languages are in creating identity and community.
Furthermore, we endeavour to create well rounded and curious students and therefore hope to provide them with the opportunity to achieve whatever they wish in life. To this end we constantly promote the benefits of being able to communicate in another language. In order for this to happen it is our responsibility to ensure pupils are confident in the following four key skills; speaking, reading, writing, and listening. This confidence stems from a focus on students acquiring language in chunks from sentence builders and this is evident at the beginning of pupils’ MFL journey with us in year 7. Through KS3 we build upon existing linguistic competency by interweaving high frequency language and grammar patterns across topics, this leads to a smooth transition into KS4 and KS5. The reinforcement of this technique is vital in providing our students with the skills they need to succeed, not only in their examinations, but also outside of the classroom and beyond.
The MFL department offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities to enhance student engagement and really develop that passion for languages. At KS3 there is a culture club that enables students to explore Spanish films, food, and literature. In addition, we have links with a French secondary school so students across year KS3 & 4 now have the opportunity to write to a pen-pal in order to practise their language skills which we believe is a fantastic way to make new connections. Finally, at KS4 & 5 we offer a book club for students to delve into Spanish/French literature which conveys our aim of encouraging our students to aim high with regards to their language skills We annually participate in the European Day of Languages on a whole school level to share the exciting opportunities learning a language can create. We, of course, have the highest aspirations of our students. If they wish to continue their study of languages at university, we provide support with this and discuss the employment possibilities available to them.