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Languages curriculum vision - click to expand
Languages curriculum overviews
KS4 Course
Exams
There are two tiers of entry available to students. GCSE French/Spanish has a Foundation tier (grades 1 – 5) and a Higher tier (grades 4 – 9). Students must sit all exam papers at the same tier. Final tier decisions are made in Year 11 using relevant assessment data and will be communicated to parents.
Paper 1 - Speaking in French/Spanish
Foundation tier: 7-9 minutes plus 15 minutes’ preparation time; 50 marks
Higher tier: 10-12 minutes plus 15 minutes’ preparation time; 50 marks
25% of the qualification
Paper 2 - Listening and understanding in French/Spanish
Written examination:
Foundation tier: 45 minutes, including 5 minutes’ reading time, 50 marks
Higher tier: 60 minutes, including 5 minutes’ reading time, 50 marks
25% of the qualification
Paper 3 - Reading and understanding in French/Spanish
Written examination:
Foundation tier: 45 minutes, 50 marks
Higher tier: 60 minutes, 50 marks
25% of the qualification
Paper 4 - Writing in French/Spanish
Written examination:
Foundation tier: 1 hour 15 minutes; 50 marks
Higher tier: 1 hour 20 minutes; 50 marks
25% of the qualification
Revision Workbooks
Students are required to purchase a revision workbook at the beginning of the GCSE course in Year 10. This is used for continual revision throughout the course as well as home study.
- Revise Edexcel GCSE 9-1 - French revision workbook.
- Revise Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Spanish revision workbook.
How parents can support their children
The Languages department values parental support and involvement at home in order to facilitate pupil progress.
- Support with completion of home study on our online platform, Languagenut. Regular engagement with home study ensures that your child engages in retrieval practice of key vocabulary and grammar items.
- If we have contacted home to offer extra support or revision sessions for your child, please support us and encourage them to attend
- Be inquisitive with your child about the language they are learning and the topics they are studying each week. Many of our pupils enjoy being able to teach their parents something new!
- Celebrate their progress, no matter how small. Confidence is key in our subject!
- Be positive about language learning at home - children will pick up on signals from adults who display a negative attitude towards it and this could impact their success and attitudes in class.
- Get involved in extra language activities at home - apps such as Duolingo are a way for parents and children to learn a new skill together.
