Modern Foreign Languages

Vision 

The Modern Foreign Languages department at Sandbach High School is passionate about sharing our love of language and culture with all our pupils. 

Our principal aims are: 

• To nurture an enjoyment of foreign languages in our pupils 
• To empower students as effective users of foreign languages  
• To encourage appreciation of and respect for different cultures  
• To motivate pupils to fulfil their potential by balancing challenge with support 

We are proud of our policy of Languages for All to GCSE. We seek to live the visions and values of the school throughout our curriculum and in the extensive extra-curricular opportunities we offer. 

Curriculum Intentions 

We are deeply committed to creating confident linguists with an intrinsic love of languages and an appreciation for the culture of other countries.  We seek to nurture curiosity in our pupils and build their skills and resilience so that they are well prepared to use their languages in real-world applications in their education, working life or free time.  

At all key stages students learn, through the skill areas of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing, the key concepts which are needed to understand and communicate in the target language. We take time to revisit key topics, structures, pronunciation patterns and grammatical concepts throughout our curriculum to strengthen our pupils’ knowledge and to develop excellent oracy and literacy skills. At all Key Stages pupils have opportunities to learn about the culture of the countries where the language is spoken. Lessons from Year 7 through to Year 13 are characterised by varied activities to develop the full range of language skills.  

French and Spanish are equal first foreign languages. Each year group is divided into two populations with one learning French and the other Spanish. Students study their first foreign language from Year 7 to Year 11. They have the opportunity to take a second or third language to GCSE level, choosing from French, Spanish and German. 

Our approach supports pupils in building up knowledge from small chunks of language into longer sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Lessons at all key stages are interactive and engaging and we use extensive modelling techniques and extensive processing tasks. We devote time and attention to practising vocabulary recall, as well as accurate pronunciation and spelling, and explicitly teach students how to apply their knowledge in different contexts. Students are provided with a knowledge organiser to support their learning in lessons and at home.  

Formative assessment is at the heart of our lessons at all key stages, and we use a variety of assessment tools in lessons to monitor each student’s understanding and progress. Students receive regular written feedback to which they have the opportunity to respond. All four skills of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking are also assessed through formal tests and exams each year.  

Almost all young people at Sandbach High School finish Year 11 with a qualification in at least one foreign language and many achieve a qualification in more than one. We have a strong history of our A-Level students gaining university places to continue to study languages. Students engage well with the range of extra-curricular activities offered including university study days, foreign film viewings and exchanges with our partner schools in Spain and Germany.