MFL - Modern Foreign Languages

The Modern Foreign Languages Department at St Peter’s has as its intent that all students have access to learning a foreign language in Key Stage 3, either French or Spanish, dependent on the tutor group they are in.  We are currently unable to offer a choice to students, nor Students ideally build on the knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding they have acquired at primary school, and where the language learnt at primary differs from the one being offered in Year 7, it is hoped that students learn to transfer the important skills involved in learning any foreign language.

Vocabulary learning is key to success, and students will have regular tests in Key Stage 3, using retrieval methods such as “Look, Cover, Write, Check” to help remember structures.  In addition, grammatical awareness is an important part of Key Stage 3, and students are taught how to use three different time frames in order to prepare them for the demands of the GCSE.  Lessons will involve teaching strategies such as games, technology and creativity to maximise the learning potential of all students.  Topics covered dovetail into the GCSE topics, providing students with a sound basis on which to build their language ability.  At the end of Key Stage 3 students opt to continue with the language they have been studying, and it is hoped that as many students as possible will opt for a language in order to achieve the English Baccalaureat qualification in their GCSEs. 

Polish and other First Languages – where possible, we encourage native or near-native speakers to take an examination in their language during Key Stage 4.  In recent years students have taken Portuguese, Persian, German and Chinese to name a few. 

Educational Visits – we offer cross-curricular educational visits to Normandy, France and Malaga, Spain, (on a bi-annual basis) with an obvious emphasis on speaking the language in real-life situations.  During both trips students get the opportunity to visit important cultural sites, sample local food, and try out the language they have  been learning in school.

Did you know that only 6% of the world’s population speak English as a first language? In the United Kingdom alone, over 300 languages are spoken by children as their mother tongue. At St Peter’s, we offer Spanish and French from Key Stage 3 through to A Level, with a dedicated team that is passionate about inspiring our students to pursue languages. We also offer Polish as a GCSE and A Level option for native speakers.

Both French, Spanish and Polish are popular GCSE option choices, with an uptake at GCSE higher than the national average.  This summer, 85% of students achievedd a grade 5 or higher in the new French and Spanish GCSE, including four Grade 9s.  In Polish, 100% of the students achieved the top grade.

Current staffing:

Mrs J. Beamish – Head of Department                 jbeamish@sphs.uk.com
Miss C. Edwards – 2^nd in Department                   cedwards@sphs.uk.com
Miss K. Foley                                                         kfoley@sphs.uk.com
Mrs S Lord                                                             slord@sphs.uk.com
Mrs Y. Stephens                                                    ystephens@sphs.uk.com
Mrs A Watorska                                                     awatorska@sphs.uk.com

We also work in partnership with trainees from the Universities of Gloucestershire and Bristol each academic year.