Modern Foreign Languages

The MFL Department at Weston plays a vital role within the school community. Language acquisition supports cognitive, social, and literacy development, making MFL lessons essential for building students’ confidence and inspiring them to achieve their full potential. 

In MFL, students: 

• Experience regular, personalised opportunities to speak, read, write, translate, and listen in their target language. 
• Are supported in practising, developing, and applying their verbal, written, and linguistic understanding as fully as possible. 
• Follow a challenging, structured, and inclusive curriculum based on the Four Pillars of Progression in MFL learning:  
• Language Enquiry – pupils explore key questions about language and begin forming their own enquiries.  
• Substantive Knowledge – learners acquire essential factual knowledge such as vocabulary, phonics, and grammar.  
• Disciplinary Knowledge – pupils develop the skills to use and apply the language creatively and purposefully.  
• Communicating Language Findings – students learn to express their understanding coherently in both spoken and written forms.  

These four pillars work together to help pupils develop confidence, linguistic competence, and cultural understanding throughout their MFL journey. 

• Gain cultural insight into the countries and communities where the target language is spoken. 
• Contribute to the wider school community through celebrating cultural identities.  
• Are encouraged to maintain active connections with the local and global community. 

Throughout their learning journey, MFL pupils draw on and relate to a wide range of subjects, including Humanities, Art, Literature, PE, Film, Drama, and Music. The MFL curriculum offers numerous cross-curricular links and continues to evolve and strengthen in this area. 

Students have the opportunity to take part in enriching events such as the annual Languages Festival, Spelling Bee competitions, Culture Day, film club, and educational trips to Paris and Barcelona. These experiences are designed to enhance both their linguistic progress and their cultural understanding.