❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞ ‒Nelson Mandela
Learning languages will not only help you communicate with others, but also understand other cultures and your own better.
It also has great benefits for your brain: Memory improvement, longer attention span, and a reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline, are just a few of the known positive effects of speaking two or more languages.
Our aims include:
The main language taught at Ivanhoe is French, and in year 9 our students have the opportunity to learn German as well. Our schemes of work are based on the Studio course and students are also able to use the ICT facilities ( Ipads and IT suites) to access Linguascope and other language learning software and websites.
At Ivanhoe College, in languages lessons, students develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to express themselves and respond with confidence. Students also focus on language learning skills which will help them to learn other languages in the future. They also develop awareness and understanding of other countries and cultures.
In languages lessons, students will:
The vast majority of our students go on to Ashby School where they study at least one language to GCSE, and a substantial number of learners choose to study two languages. We ensure that students are well prepared for the demands of GCSE and liaise with Ashby School regularly.
We are in close contact with our feeder primary schools who have embraced the teaching of MFL at Key Stage 2. This ensures that our students have a smooth transition into Language learning at Ivanhoe College.
Students are continually assessed within languages lessons, using both formative and summative assessments and students regularly use self and peer assessment in class. Summative assessments usually take place at the end of each unit of work. We regularly give detailed feedback to students regarding their achievement and communicate to students what they need to do to make further progress in their learning.
Every year, some of our most able Year 9 linguists are also offered the opportunity to attend Master classes with some students from Ibstock Community College at Ashby School.
We would encourage all students to practise their vocabulary at home, both orally and in writing.
You can support your child by helping them to revise vocabulary or grammar rules, check their spellings, asking them questions in French or in English for them to reply to in French. The material they need is mainly in their vocabulary book that students always bring home, or in their exercise books or worksheets they occasionally are asked to take home, so do not worry if you do not feel confident in using French or German. Helping students to practise their pronunciation of individual words or a dialogue will also help boost their confidence.
At home, access to a bilingual dictionary or an online dictionary is helpful for students to complete reading and writing tasks.
The MFL department also uses “Moodle”, a virtual leaning environment, and each year group and teacher have their own room for each module . All students can access these rooms and share the contents with their parents.
Here are also some useful websites:
www.linguascope.com ( The College pays for an annual subscription- ask your teacher for details)
www.languagesonline.org.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/languages
www.atantot.com
http://www.atantot-extra.co.uk/
www.quia.com
www.zut.org.uk
www.tf1.fr
http://www.geoado.com/
http://blog.okapi.fr/
In Year 7 all students in French are taught in mixed ability groups.
In Year 8 students are taught in mixed ability groups.
In Year 9 all students in French are taught in mixed ability groups.
PLTS reference is used every day in lessons in order to help students identify their weakness and strength so that they can make the best progress. In lessons, through the various activities we plan, we refer to PLTS to teach students to be creative, reflective and independent.
The natural focus of Modern Foreign Languages is SMSC: people, their relationships and interactions with others, cultural immersion.
SMSC links are used where appropriate to make cultural links with every topic through comparing statistics, looking at differences in the style of life (food, school system, sport, family, multimedia….), learning about holidays/countries/ nationalities, etc..
Students are encouraged to discover, discuss, debate unfamiliar lifestyles, and to give their own understanding of the world around them.
SMSC is aimed at breaking down stereotypes and looking at similarities ( eg: through festivals, …)
This is considered an out of date browser. This website has been developed with modern browsers in mind to allow it to display at its best in a wide variety of viewing situations - including mobile viewing. But we haven't supported older browsers like IE8. Please upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer - or try Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Both are excellent browsers.
Thank you.