In this section:
General
National curriculum and GCSE subject content
For GCSE MFL teaching from September 2024 and examination from summer 2026, this document will no longer apply to GCSEs in French, German and Spanish (except where pupils are resitting under the previous subject content) but will remain current for all other MFL subjects.
Useful blogs for secondary teaching colleagues
MFL Classroom Magic
Written by a secondary teacher of French and Spanish in the UK, teaching both up to A-level. This blog is aimed at trainees or new teachers who are seeking to develop their repertoire of lesson ideas, but also to improve their understanding of the methodological principles underpinning different activities and teaching sequences. However, it may also be of use to more experienced teachers looking to try out different ideas or learn something new.
The Ideal Teacher
Written by Sabina, a passionate, qualified French and German teacher, examiner and tutor with over 15 years teaching experience in private, online, secondary and further education settings.
MFL Craft @BotonesSalgado
This blog is about sharing good practice and teaching and earning reflections.
FrauBastowMFL
Reflections of Silvia Bastow, experienced leader and German teacher who has worked in teaching for 20 years.
Twinning with schools abroad
Portsmouth City of Languages is offering the opportunity to twin Portsmouth schools with a school in Caen (French), Valencia (Spanish) or Duisburg (German) in order to carry out virtual exchanges. Please see the presentation for more information about virtual exchanges.
If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact Tanya Riordan at [email protected].
‘Language Lives’ videos and lesson plans
These six clips of important language people last approx. 10 mins each and could be used as starter activities, by getting students to think about what makes a good language person and how they too can become a language person.
They could also be used to celebrate certain events during the year such as Cities of Languages events or festivals or language days.
They are beneficial not just to language teachers but also to history teachers as they capture certain periods in history and the interviewees often refer to having had great history teachers!
Download the lesson plansKey stage 4 – GCSE
Community language GCSEs
Nationally, around 30,000 students take a qualification in their community language every year. The vast majority of these pupils take these GCSEs through their school, even though they don’t study the language there. The rest take them through ‘Supplementary Schools’ or community language classes.
There are currently 19 languages available at GCSE level (excluding ancient languages), with some ongoing national debate about those available, their worth and viability. So, why should schools support students to access these qualifications?
It is as important as ever to recognise linguistic skills and cultural capital whenever possible – these have a significant role in social cohesion and contribute to economic wealth and global trade.
More importantly, though, valuing their first language in this way also contributes to our pupils’ sense of belonging and self-esteem and helps with parental engagement, especially where parents find schools challenging to access.
In addition, community language GCSEs contribute to your school’s overall MFL results and associated EBacc outcomes too.
Support and further information is available from the following sources:
- Local language schools
- The National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE) and the report ‘Saturdays for success’ both have additional useful information regarding collaborative working.
- The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has produced two position papers on ‘Home, Heritage and Community Languages’ – primary and secondary.
- The Association for Language Learning (ALL) has a new home/heritage/community languages section.