English/MFL
Curriculum
Following the merger of the English and Modern Foreign Language faculties in September 2011, the Faculty is fully staffed with eleven full time specialists. Eight members of staff focusing on the English Curriculum and three focusing on the MFL subject.
English - All students follow an integrated programme of speaking, listening, reading and writing at Key Stages 3 and 4. At KS3 we offer an integrated programme of study following the Secondary National Strategy. At KS4 we follow the WJEC board and offer English GCSE to all and English Literature GCSE to the majority of students. The Faculty focuses on improving students' literacy skills across both key stages equipping them with the skills for further learning and the world of work. The English Curriculum aims for pupils to become successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
The importance of English
English is vital for communicating with others in school and in the wider world, and is fundamental to learning in all curriculum subjects. In studying English, pupils develop skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing that they will need to participate in society and employment. Students learn to express themselves creatively and imaginatively and to communicate with others confidently and effectively. English lends itself well to developing pupils' attitudes, values and personal qualities. The literature texts that we study cover spiritual, cultural and moral issues. Students learn to become critical readers of stories, poetry and drama as well as non-fiction and media texts.
Students have the opportunity to experience theatre productions and take part in workshops. We currently provide opportunities to enter local and national competitions. The Faculty has its own annual magazine, 'The Peacock' which celebrates pupils' achievement; it is currently on its 11th edition.
The Faculty has strong links with local primary schools and offers a liaison programme throughout the year working with Year 5 & 6 pupils.
Modern Foreign Languages
The Modern Foreign Language team consists of three specialist language teachers.
The subject is taught within three dedicated classrooms, each with an interactive whiteboard, and a MFL resources and staffroom. There is also a fantastic cross-curricular media suite situated within the MFL area of the school which allows for students to develop their creative audio and visual skills through making short films and radio shows in a choice of English, Spanish or French.
Modern Foreign Languages has moved from strength to strength over the past few years offering French, and Spanish to all abilities at Palatine Sports College.
All students study French for the first three years, and for those who enjoy learning a foreign language and show some aptitude for it, there is the opportunity to learn Spanish from the beginning of year 8. Pair work, group work and whole class teaching are evident and where appropriate much of the lessons are conducted in the foreign language and students are encouraged to use it from an early stage. The topics covered all revolve around the students own experiences and include such things as personal information, pastimes, school, holidays, the environment and the world of work and new technologies. To support learning, materials such as CD's, videos, magazine, language games and computer software are used extensively.
Over the last few years the staff have organised several visits to foreign countries and MFL events have been organised. These have two purposes – to provide an opportunity to speak the language of the country visited and to learn more about its culture.
Students and staff visited Paris and Normandy in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
These visits included trips to Disneyland Paris, tours of the city and a stay in Normandy visiting St. Malo and Mont St. Michel, World 1 and 2 Sites.
In May of 2008, students and staff visited Madrid. As part of the visit there were trips to the Warner Brothers Theme Park, museums and galleries as well as a tour of the Real Madrid Stadium. .
In May 2010 a group visited Paris on a visit linked with the Art deparement and a similar visit is planned for May 2012. Further details of the educational and enjoyable visits are detailed within the extra curricular section of the website
