Bienvenue/Bienvenido/Welcome
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•    ‘monolingualism can be cured’ www.linguascope.com and the other quotes..
•    Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
•    I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.(Samuel Johnson)
•    A language enables you to communicate with others without seeming arrogant enough to expect them to speak English.(sixth former)
•    If you are travelling around the world, speaking the language is better than shouting. (sixth former)
•    Speaking with people from different cultures is very enriching. Languages enable you to do this (language undergraduate)

The Department
The Department of Modern Foreign Languages at The Friary School is a thriving and successful department and we are proud of its achievements. All members of the MFL Department are committed to ensuring that all pupils learn languages for a purpose and give them every opportunity to achieve their academic potential.

The Curriculum
•    At The Friary School, we offer both French and Spanish Languages in Key stage 3, 4 and 5. We use “Mira Express 1 and 2” to deliver the KS3 Spanish course, ‘Expo 1  2 and 3’ for KS3 French as well as the DFES Asset Languages Ladder at KS3 French  for further internal qualifications. All of these courses offer a wealth of interactive ICT opportunities for our pupils. We  offer  GCSE courses in both languages following the OCR  GCSE specification. At A level we also offer courses in French and Spanish.  These are delivered using the WJEC course.
•    Lessons are delivered using a wide variety of teaching methods, including ICT role play, mime, games and songs.   The target language is also regularly used to give instructions and to communicate in the classroom.

French club
We’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Océane, an exchange 6th form student, who is running a weekly French club for year 7-9 Francophiles on Thursday lunchtimes. What a fantastic opportunity for our budding linguists.

Year 9 French trip to Château Beaumont July 5-9 2013
Year 9 pupils and staff (110 of us in all) are getting excited in the run up to the annual educational visit abroad with the Modern Foreign Languages Department. This year we’re off to Normandy for a fun-filled few days –  As well as lots of French language immersion activities, we will be taking in the sights of the Eiffel Tower and visiting  Disney Land, Paris !
Watch this space for photos!

Staffordshire-Limousine French exchange
We are pleased to announce that two Friary school pupils are participating in the Staffordshire-Limousin French Exchange this year. The exchange is now in its 36th successful year, providing invaluable opportunities for English students to be immersed in French culture and improve their language skills. This year, English participants will travel over to France in April, where they will participate in a variety of social and cultural activities with their French partners. In the summer, the French students will be hosted by their English partner’s family and experience the British way of life. Good luck to those involved and watch this space for details about the exchange in subsequent years!

The Modern Languages Department comprises of a suite of six classrooms all with whiteboards. We have our own computer room where all pupils are timetabled for some of their lessons, where pupils access authentic materials from the Internet in order to deepen their intercultural understanding of the country where the language is spoken. . We use headphones to allow pupils to record themselves for self and peer assessment.
Incorporated into our daily teaching, all teachers are fully trained with our latest software ‘Active Studio 3’, which offers fully interactive lessons for pupils.
Please also see our ‘Links for Learning’ section to gain more insight in how we coordinate independent learning for all pupils.
Below are a few examples of some of the websites that we incorporate into the teaching and learning in the MFL Department at The Friary School:

Practising grammar and vocabulary, playing games online
www.linguascope.com
www.languagesonline.org.uk
www.atantot.co.uk
www.zut.org.uk
www.voki.com - improve your pronunciation with the help of a friendly avatar that you can create and personalise!

Music
www.virginradio.fr   - a radio station with songs both in English and French.
www.nrj.fr   - NRJ is a website where you can choose from different radio stations.
www.skyrock.fm/front  - Another radio station for those who prefer pop and rap music!
www.rtl.fr   - A radio station with music, games and various programs.

Podcasts
www.radiofrance.fr/boite-a-outils/podcast  - you can find here various podcasts about news and cultural events. Recommended for sixth formers but everybody can have a look!

Mrs C Cain – Head of Modern Languages
Mrs S Grigg – Second in Modern Languages
Miss A Parton – teacher of French with the responsibility for the oversight of public examinations
Miss H Stirling – teacher of French and Spanish
Mrs N Mann – teacher of French (part-time)
Mr M Grégoire – teacher of French (part-time)
Mrs F Welch - teacher of French (part-time)

Click here to see our Year 7 information

Click here to see our Year 8 information

Click here to see our Year 9 information

KEY STAGE 4 FRENCH AND SPANISH  GCSE (YEARS 10 AND 11)

We will be following the OCR examination board course.
During this course you will study the following topics:-
•                  Home and Local area: life in the home; friends and relationships; local area; facilities and getting around.
•                  Health and sport: sport and healthy lifestyle and food and drink as aspects of culture and health.
•                  Leisure and entertainment: socialising; special occasions; festivals; TV; films and music.
•                  Travel and the wider world: holidays; exchanges; the environment and cultural and social issues.
•                  Education and work: school life in the UK; school life in France/ Spain; work experience; future study; jobs and working abroad.

Assessments
The levels of entry available to you in each skill are:-
•                  Foundation – at this level you could achieve GCSE grades G – C
•                  Higher – at this level you could achieve GCSE grades D – A*

There are examination papers for Foundation and for Higher Tier in listening and reading skills. You can take a combination of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier units to match your ability.
The assessment for this subject will follow this pattern:-

Speaking Examination
This is assessed by your teacher and then sent to the exam board for marking. You will complete a range of tasks throughout Year 10 and 11 and the best 2 tasks will be submitted. Each task will last between 4-6 minutes. Tasks may range from presentations and questions to giving a narrative. After your teacher has covered a unit of work, you will be given time in exam conditions to prepare the task. You will be able to use reference materials during this time. Your teacher will store the work you do. You will also be able to make notes on a Speaking Notes Form and bring these in to the exam with you. You will then complete the task with your teacher who will record the exam.

Writing Assessment
The pieces you complete will be set on the topics you study through Year 10 and Year 11.  A folder of your best two pieces must be presented for assessment in Year 11.  Please note that you will need to use reference materials and dictionaries and must have your own personal dictionary. Higher candidates will submit 2 pieces of 300 words and foundation students will complete 2 pieces of 200 words. Following a unit of work, you will be given preparation time to prepare for the assessment. You will be able to use reference materials and prepare 40 words to use in the final assessment. Your teacher will store your work. You will then complete your piece of written assessment in exam conditions. You will be given up to 60 minutes for this.
In addition you will be expected to complete homework relevant to your course of study on a weekly basis.  Your homework will help you to build up knowledge and techniques essential for your successful examination performance.

KEY STAGE 5 FRENCH AND SPANISH A’ LEVEL (YEARS 12 AND 13)

Both subjects will offer an advanced level course leading to AS level after 1 year and the full A Level after 2 years
During this course you will have the opportunity to:

•       Learn about the culture and customs of French/ Spanish speaking countries
•       Develop advanced aural and communication skills in the foreign language
•       Discuss contemporary issues in the foreign language
•       Further your understanding of the grammar and structures of the foreign language
•       Participate in the county exchange visits to Limoges
•       Attend French/ Spanish Sixth Form conferences
•       Do work experience in France for a week (French students only)
•       Work with a Foreign Language Assistant

This course will be skills based and will further develop the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills learned at GCSE. 
The exam board advises that students should have gained a grade ‘C’ or above on GCSE higher papers to do these courses.
Much of the lesson time will involve use of the foreign language by both teacher and students; independent access to authentic listening material; foreign language texts of varying lengths will be read and often used as a basis for discussion.

The topic areas covered will include contemporary issues such as racism, health, the environment, the media, technological advances, the changing roles of men and women in society, leisure, education, youth culture and Europe.  Students will be required to research topics through independent reading and to provide blank cassettes for listening material.  Students will need their own dictionary.

•         The examination board for this subject will be WJEC: If you are successful, your results will be graded A to E at AS level and A* to E at A Level.

•         Assessment for the full A level will follow the pattern:

AS
U1 Oral Examination (15 mins)  40% of AS or 20% of full A level. 
U2 Listening, Reading and Writing (2.5 hrs)  60% of AS or 30% of full A level.

A2
U3 Oral Examination (20 mins)  20% of A level.
U4 Listening, Reading and Writing (3hrs)    30% of A level


If you would like further information about these subjects you may:
•       Talk to Mrs Cain (Head of Modern Languages)
•       Visit the AS/A-Level Specifications site of the WJEC website (www.WJEC.co.uk)

Year 7 French

Use www.linguascope.com to practice the vocabulary topics from Expo1
Your French teacher will provide you with the log in details
Module 1 C’est parti (meeting people)
Module 2 Famille et copains (family and friends)
Module 3 Chez moi (home life)
Module 4 On va en ville (town)
Module 5 Ma journée (school)
Module 6 On s’amuse (free time)

You may also want to look at the following websites to help you improve your French:
www.languagesonline.org.uk
This website is excellent! It has activities related to the topics that you cover in class, but it also has grammar exercises which are really useful.

www.zut.org.uk
On this site you will find interactive exercises on a variety of topics. Please ask your teacher for the username and password.

www.modlangs.co.uk
This site gives you the opportunity to work from authentic sources as well as topic-based exercises.

Year 8 French

Use www.linguascope.com to practice the vocabulary topics from Expo2
Your French teacher will provide you with the log in details
Module 1 - Les metiers (jobs)
Les pays (countries)
La météo (les points cardinaux)
Module 2 - Mes passé-temps (hobbies)
A la télé
Les sports
Module 3 Les vêtements (clothes)
Les magasins (shops)
Module 4 Le petit déjeuner (breakfast)
Les snacks
Les legumes (vegetables)
Les fruits
Module 5 Les nationalités

Year 9 French

www.languagesonline.org.uk
This is a useful website on two counts. It is very good for a spot of revision of what you covered in years 7 and 8. But its main advantage is an excellent grammar section which provides graded exercises on the various tenses. As you will be aiming to demonstrate your ability to understand and use the present, past and future tenses in French, you can find on this site a variety of tasks that will take you right back to the basics all the way up to the exceptions.

www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland
This website offers a range of activities at different levels. Make sure you choose KS3 in the first instance. This will give you access to grammar exercises, texts for model answers and a number of audio-visual material and worksheets on many topics, all of which are clearly labelled.

www.linguascope.co.uk
For those of you studying French in Expo 3 Vert, this site provides a great variety of games on topics which are clearly listed in both languages.

www.linguastars.com
For those of you studying French in Expo 3 Rouge, Linguascope may not be enough of a challenge. Linguastars works on the same basis but it will demand more of you!

www.zut.org.uk
On this site you will find interactive exercises on a variety of topics. Select KS3 initially, then year 9. Please ask your teacher for the username and password.

www.modlangs.co.uk
This site gives you the opportunity to work from authentic sources as well as topic-based exercises.

www.staffordshire-limousin-experience.org.uk
On this site, you will be able to learn more about this wonderful opportunity to visit France, available for pupils in Years 9,10 and 12.

KS3 Spanish

www.linguascope.com
This website has a wide variety of activities and games covering many of the topics that you study in y8 and y9. It is fun and easy to use. You can also use this website to listen to Spanish music and radio!
Some of the topics covered include colours, animals, weather, sports etc
Your French teacher will provide you with the log in details

www.languagesonline.org.uk
This website is excellent! It has activities related to the topics that you cover in class, but it also has grammar exercises which are really useful. Once you are on the site, choose ‘Caminos 1’ if you want to do activities on topics such as numbers 1-10, days of the week etc. Otherwise, choose ‘Grammar’ if you want to improve a certain aspect of your grammar, such as the present tense, or the future tense. Remember that being able to use 3 different tenses means you can achieve level 6!

KS4 French

www.languagesonline.org.uk
This is an excellent website that is designed to give you practice with different topics covered in the GCSE examinations. The grammar sections are excellent. Make sure you work your way through the activities reading the explanations at the beginning of every grammar exercise. Make sure you look at the present tense, the future tense, the conditional tense, the perfect tense and the imperfect tense. If you are aiming for the very best grades in your GCSE examination, then have a look at the subjunctive tense exercises as well.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize
This website gives you the opportunity to have a go at some practice papers including listening activities. If you are taking the higher tier examination, make sure you look at the foundation tier exercises as well.

www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland
This website has a range of activities for you to look at. Make sure you look at KS4 French.

www.linguastars.com
A really useful website to look at when you are preparing for your GCSE examinations. There are lots of different activities on lots of different topics. The topics that you cover in your GCSE course are:
Self, family and friends
Free time (health and sport)
Home life
Local area
Holidays (travel and the wider world)
School life
Careers, work and work experience.
You may want to focus on these topic areas when looking at this website.

www.modlangs.co.uk
This website is an excellent resource available for our students. Please ask your teacher for the username and password. It contains a variety of activities designed to support the topics you cover during lessons.
Please make sure you have a look in the library as we have some excellent magazines to help you develop your French. You may find some of the articles interesting!

KS4 Spanish

www.languagesonline.org.uk
This is an excellent website that is designed to give you practise with different topics covered in the GCSE examinations. The grammar sections are excellent. Make sure you work your way through the activities reading the explanations at the beginning of every grammar exercise. Make sure you look at the present tense, the preterite tense, the future tense, the conditional tense, the perfect tense and the imperfect tense. If you are aiming for the very best grades in your GCSE examination, then have a look at the subjunctive tense exercises as well.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize
This website gives you the opportunity to have a go at some practise papers including listening activities. If you are taking the higher tier examination, make sure you look at the foundation tier exercises as well.

www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland
This website has a range of activities for you to look at. Make sure you look at KS4 Spanish.

www.linguastars.com
A really useful website to look at when you are preparing for your GCSE examinations. There are lots of different activities on lots of different topics. The topics that you cover in your GCSE course are:
Self, family and friends
Free time
Home life
Local area
Holidays
School life
Careers, work and work experience.
You may want to focus on these topic areas when looking at this website.

www.text-link.info/textlinkonline
This website provides links and a guide to websites. For each topic just go to the relevant section in Text-link and you will find plenty of texts, activities and support material. Please ask your teacher for the username and password.

www.modlangs.co.uk
This website is an excellent resource available for our students. Please ask your teacher for the username and password. It contains a variety of activities designed to support the topics you cover during lessons.

KS5 Spanish

www.languagesonline.org.uk
This is an excellent website that is designed to give you practise with different topics covered in the AS and A2 examinations. The grammar sections are also excellent. Make sure you work your way through the activities reading the explanations at the beginning of every grammar exercise. Make sure you look at all of the different tenses and all of the topics relating to the topics you study in lessons.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/16
This is the BBC website designed to help students at KS5. It has a range of links including one to BBC Mundo on which you can read the Spanish news.

www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland
This website has a range of activities for you to look at. Make sure you look at KS5 Spanish.

www.text-link.info/textlinkonline
This website provides links and a guide to websites. For each topic just go to the relevant section in Text-link and you will find plenty of texts, activities and support material. Please ask your teacher for the username and password.

www.modlangs.co.uk
This website is an excellent resource available for our students. Please ask your teacher for the username and password. It contains a variety of activities designed to support the topics you cover during lessons.

KS5 French

These sites require a username and a password. Ask your teacher for them.

www.modlangs.co.uk
Access to authentic up-to-date articles with related exercises such as grammar gap fills translations… Useful for coursework and oral presentation.

www.text-link.info/textlinkonline
Links to authentic up-to-date material related to A Level topics; useful for coursework and oral presentation.

www.languagesonline.org.uk
Vocabulary and grammar activities on a range of topics.

www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang
Range of links related to topics studied, useful for coursework and oral presentation.

www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland
Offers a range of exercises which can provide interesting extension activities. Gives also access to a wide range of links useful for coursework and oral presentation.

www.wjec.co.uk
Site of the exam board to access information about the nature of the course and format of the examination. (Refer to specifications)