Skip to content ↓
Return to homepage

Westfield Secondary School

Languages

Overview

Introduction

At Westfield School, we teach two modern foreign languages to each year group:

  • Spanish (offered to every year group).
  • French or German (this language option alternates each year).

This continues in key stage 4, with Spanish offered to every year group, and French or German offered alternately. Regardless of the language studied at GCSE, the subject content is split into three themes (people and lifestyle; popular culture; and communication and the world around us) and the vocabulary and grammar learned relate to these themes.

Qualification

GCSE

Awarding body

AQA

Course leader

Mrs A Street and Mrs C Moutry

Assessment

  • Examination: 100%
    • Paper 1 Listening: Foundation 35 mins | Higher 45 mins | 25%
    • Paper 2 Speaking: Foundation 7-9 mins + 15 mins prep | Higher 10-12 mins +15 mins prep | 25%
    • Paper 3 Reading: Foundation 45 mins | Higher 1 hour | 25%
    • Paper 4 Writing: Foundation 1 hour 10 mins | Higher 1 hour 15 mins | 25%
  • Non-examined assessment: 0%

Curriculum

Topics

  • Theme 1: People and lifestyle
    • Topic 1: Identity and relationships with others.
    • Topic 2: Healthy living and lifestyle.
    • Topic 3: Education and work.
  • Theme 2: Popular culture
    • Topic 1: Free-time activities.
    • Topic 2: Customs, festivals and celebrations.
    • Topic 3: Celebrity culture.
  • Theme 3: Communication and the world around us
    • Topic 1: Travel and tourism, including places of interest.
    • Topic 2: Media and technology.
    • Topic 3: The environment and where people live.

Skills and requirements

Skills required

Students need to:

  • have studied the language in key stage 3
  • be reflective learners who think carefully about their work and how to improve
  • have good communication skills
  • willing to work both independently and in groups
  • be resilient

Beyond the classroom

Future pathways

Having a second language is a real advantage to many employers who want to be able to communicate with other businesses all over the world. It also shows that students have excellent communication skills and that they are resilient.

Some of the areas that learning a language could lead include:

  • translator
  • risk analyst
  • academic researcher
  • English as a foreign language teacher
  • interpreter
  • broadcast journalist
  • consultant
  • logistics
  • sales
  • tour manager
  • travel and tourism

Cookie Policy