How will I be assessed?
Languages
Please click on MVC Lingo to view the second edition of our new Faculty Magazine!
News
The Languages department had another set of wonderful results in Summer 2010
- 88% A-C in French compared to 65% achieved by similar schools who took the Edexcel specification
- 93% A*-C in German compared to 71% achieved by similar schools who took the Edexcel specification
- 100 A*-C in Spanish compared to 76% achieved by similar schools who took the Edexcel specification.
Well done to everyone!!
Staff
The Languages department is fully staffed with 4 excellent teachers:
- Mr Hutchinson (Head of EAL Faculty)
- Mrs Lawrence (Assistant Principal/Head of Darwin House/ Teacher of MFL)
- Miss Morscher (2nd in EAL Faculty with responsibility for MFL)
- Miss Trousset (Teacher of MFL)
- Mrs Haddow (Teacher of MFL)
Trips
Students have the chance to visit France in Year 7 for a one day trip and a trip to Germany in Year 8 is also offered to enrich our extra curricular programme.
Grouping arrangements
In Year 7 we begin our teaching in mixed groups until students are then set on the basis of available evidence from KS2 and from initial testing at the college. Movement between groups may result from end of unit assessments but is dependent upon consultation with the English department.
In Years 8 and 9 French all students are grouped according to their English set. Movement between the groups may result from end of unit assessments but can be dependent upon consultation with the English Department. For German we believe it is fairer to give the students a level field so we opt for mixed ability groupings at this early stage in their learning of German.
At Key Stage 4 all students are taught within mixed ability groups.
Homework
In Key Stage 3 one homework per week is set. It has been agreed that one week will be a vocabulary learning homework and the next week either a reading or writing task will be set to reinforce the learning.
In Key Stage 4 two homeworks will be set, one learning homework and one reading or writing task will be set in addition to reinforce classroom teaching.
Key Stage 3 Assessment
Each half term there will be an assessment piece which is awarded a National Curriculum level. This will be followed by an A, B or C to indicate whether the piece is towards the top, middle or bottom of the level. For Years 7 and 8 the first assessments will be speaking and listening and the second assessment will assess reading and writing towards the end of the term. For Year 9 the assessments in all four skills will be conducted at the end of each term.
Key Stage 4 Assessment
Years 10 and 11
As with many other courses at Key Stage 4, assessment is conducted by using controlled assessment tasks. In Languages these tasks are in Writing and Speaking and form 60% of the overall grade for the subject. The reading and listening are tested separately at the end of Year 11 in a formal examination. Students must submit their best two writing results as well as their best two speaking results in June. It may be necessary for students to take additional assessment tasks to reach their target grade.
Please click on the following documents for the assessment overviews in each year group. You may also wish to look at the “How will I be assessed overview” table found above.
For new Year 10 students: New Year 10 assessment overview (link to follow)
For new Year 11 students: New Year 11 assessment overview (link to follow)
Additional Information on Rewards!
Pupil of the Week: Every Friday a student will be selected by each of the teachers in the MFL department as their pupil of the week. This can be awarded for work done in class or for an excellent result in an assessment. A pupil can only be awarded 'Pupil of the Week' once in a year by their teacher. The student receives a positive referral and a letter home.