Modern Foreign Languages
Department Staffing & Roles
- Miss Maria Ruiz Molina – Head of Modern Foreign Languages
- Miss N López Morales – Teacher of Spanish
- Miss A Riveros Fuentes – Teacher of Spanish
Welcome to the OCA Modern Foreign Languages’ departmental page! In MFL, we aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that allows our students to engage with all aspects of language learning. Each OCA linguist will have the opportunity to experience immersive language lessons which give them an overview as to where they can go in the future. We believe that speaking a foreign language unlocks a new world.
In language lessons, we aim to give pupils all of the information required in order to decide whether further language study is for them in KS4. Our language teachers inspire pupils to develop a curiosity for learning and an understanding of the scale of opportunities available to those able to speak another language.
MFL staff use the curriculum time available to hit all four skills of language learning: speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is vital that our pupils have the opportunity to experience the KS3 curriculum outside of the classroom. For this reason, we arrange trips to the University of Manchester and give all pupils the opportunity to experience a trip abroad. Lessons are made with the intention of linking to real life situations, using transactional language where possible to allow pupils to feel as though they have made progress as linguists.
In MFL, we want our pupils to experience a wide range of topics and skills during our lessons. We strive to cover all four skills (Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing) and make links with other subjects around the Academy. We love our language lessons to include authentic resources, from songs and poems to longer pieces of text as skills develop.
KS3 Curriculum Overview
KS4 Curriculum Overview
At KS4, we study towards the AQA GCSE curriculum. All of our MFL staff are current examiners for Pearson Edexcel.
At OCA, we strongly believe that careers education is a vital aspect of our curriculum. In MFL, we aim to broaden our pupils’ idea of the opportunities available to them post-16. In order to do this, we:
- Organise visits to both the University of Liverpool/University of Manchester to trial language degrees
- Include career links in lessons (class interpreter, travel consultant challenges, translation, links to Mi6)
- Arrange visits from professionals to discuss career pathways (Mi6, Confucius Institute)
- Provide opportunities for international travel (Barcelona, Madrid, Qingdao)
- Offer careers advice for pupils during the options process to guide/support in decision making
- Maintain our MFL careers board giving a wide range of career opportunities
- Promote leadership and initiative within our MFL students through our ‘Languages ambassadors’ programme
Further Education Opportunities
Locally, we have excellent post-16 provisions for language study at A-Level and beyond. There are several options for language study and we love to see our pupils continuing with this life skill. Below are some links for further study options:
KS3
We are extremely excited about our recent partnership with the Korean Education Centre, which will offer the opportunity to enjoy Korean after-school lessons to our younger linguists.
KS4
At GCSE level, Year 11 follow a whole school timetable to support in intervention. However, we realise that pupils may want to enrich themselves further and offer supplementary sessions on Mondays 3-4pm, as well as Tuesday 4-5pm.
For Year 10, apart from the enrichment opportunities above, pupils are welcomed into Year 11 intervention but also have their own slot available on Wednesdays 3-4pm for any support they require.
Spelling Bee for Year 7
- Wednesdays 3-4 pm
Year 11 Intervention
- Mondays 3-4 pm
- Tuesdays 4-5 pm
Korean club- all students from KS3 and Year 10 welcome
- Tuesdays 3-4 pm
The following resources are useful for languages revision outside of the MFL classroom:
KS3
- www.languagesonline.org.uk – Excellent for grammar and vocabulary revision
- www.quizlet.com – Great flashcards for grammar and vocabulary
KS4
- www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize – Good for grammar/revision
- www.senecalearning.com – Excellent video resources for grammar and key themes
- www.quizlet.com – Great flashcards for grammar and vocabulary
Languagenut app
Username/Password provided by class teacher
In MFL we have a range of opportunities to experience other languages and cultures. Thanks to the Confucious Institute, we are able to immerse ourselves in the Chinese New Year’s celebrations and the Chinese language itself. We also experience the culture of the languages that we are learning. Year 9 last year enjoyed a Spanish breakfast with churros with chocolate. There are no pictures for this one because we were too busy eating the delicious Spanish food!
Reading in MFL
We have a range of magazines in Spanish. We would like our linguists to read in the language they are learning whilst learning about current affairs in the countries where they are spoken.
Trips
We strive to share our passion for travel by taking our students on study trips abroad. In the past, we had a fantastic experience exploring Nice, Paris and also Barcelona in July 2023. We visited the Spanish city and spent four days carrying out lots of visits and fun activities. It was a perfect opportunity to put our Spanish into practice and we are looking forward to repeating this unforgettable experience in the near future!
Pen pal exchange
At the MFL department we love bringing languages to life! Our Year 10 Spanish students wrote letters to our Spanish friends at Colegi Sant Gabriel in Barcelona and El Bohío in Cartagena. Hopefully, we forge long lasting friendships with them and can visit them in the future to show off our Spanish!
Carmel College A level taster lesson
On the 6th of July 2022, some of our Year 10 linguists visited Carmel College to get a sneak peek of what learning languages at A-Level is like. The teachers at Carmel were amazed by our OCAERs’ curiosity and resilience!
