Modern Foreign Languages

THE PLACE OF MFL WITHIN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM
The teaching of both French and German form the Modern Language Department.  Pupils in Year 7 have 5 hours of French over the 2-week timetable.  Pupils in Years 8 and 9 upper ability bands have 6 hours of Modern Foreign Languages – divided equally between French and German.  In the lower ability band, pupils have 5 hours of French over the 2-week timetable. 
 
Pupils in Year 7 are taught in mixed-ability classes, Years 8-11 in sets or ability bands.
 
ORGANISATION
The Modern Language Department consists of the Head of Department (HoD), Mrs H Dures, who has overall responsibility for both languages.  The MFL department comprises: Mrs A Kuzio, Mrs E Hudson, Mrs C Dugher and Miss S Lambert.
 
It is agreed that individual teachers are responsible for their own classroom management, displays and general tidiness of rooms.  The HoD should be consulted if pupils are giving cause for concern.  All members of the department are aware of the school’s anti-bullying policy and the referral policy.
 
The department insists on high standards of behaviour in order to facilitate a good working atmosphere.
 
We expect pupils to provide basic equipment such as pen, pencil, rubber and ruler.
 
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The MFL Department has a high profile within the school, especially on Open Evenings.  We endeavour to always have displays of the students’ work in the classrooms when parents come to visit the school and members of the department are there to answer any questions that the parents may have.
 
We have organised trips to Rouen and Munich in the past to enhance pupil knowledge of different cultures and customs.  We are again organising a trip to Rouen in the summer of 2011.
 We have maintained links with the Ecole Notre Dame in Carentan by a penfriend scheme.  We also have links with Al Massira Al Kadra School in Morocco by Connecting Classrooms.  We also enter Eurofest and host a KS2 Transition Day for primary schools.