German - The Leigh UTC

Intent

At The Leigh UTC we are passionate about developing STEM professionals for the future global market and therefore we believe in the benefits that learning a language can bring in enabling this to happen. Learning German increases your job opportunities with German and foreign companies in your own country and abroad. Learning German develops communication and problem solving skills. It also helps to improve your social skills, confidence and European awareness.

We aspire to expose our pupils to a broad and ambitious German Languages curriculum, which is rich in skills and knowledge, develops self-efficacy, kindles curiosity and promotes diversity and tolerance of other cultures. Our German Languages curriculum will give pupils the opportunity to:

use language skills, receptively and productively, for communication in the real world, for practical purposes, for their immediate needs, interests and beyond and to express and justify opinions.
develop their confidence and autonomy to access new and unfamiliar language through the use of decoding skills brought about by the explicit teaching of phonics and sound patterns.

At the UTC we look to extend our students’ learning by offering a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities which include our residential trips to Cologne. In addition, our ambassador scheme offers opportunities to help to bring the German language and culture to life and impact on students’ motivation to learn a language in activities across the school, including assemblies to various year groups. Regular visits to our German link school – the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnsium in Aachen – is also an ideal opportunity for students to experience ‘real’ language and interact with native speakers.

Our curriculum in MFL forms a backbone to our ethos statement. Examples of how our curriculum supports the ethos statement are through a range of activities that promote student curiosity, confidence and collaborative thinking. Through teacher modelling, we encourage our students to be well-mannered, thoughtful and mindful of others and our enthusiastic and encouraging approach is mirrored in the engagement and enthusiasm shown by our students.

Implementation

An important principle of language learning is the purpose for which the language is used.

The teaching of German at the Leigh UTC is not just restricted to the learning of Grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

The students are exposed to communicative contexts where they can practise their language skills through their interactions, including regular visits and a pen-friend scheme with students from the German link-school.

When designing our MYP units, we aim to incorporate all approaches to learning so that students will be very familiar with them by the time they reach the end of the MYP, and incorporating the right ATL into an activity or unit will help to make these more coherent and meaningful to our students.

Collaborative curriculum planning lies at the heart of what we do in the department. We are committed to a three-year plan of developing our schemes of work. These are focussed on embedding challenge, metacognition, memory techniques and literacy into our departmental curriculum Alongside our schemes of work, we are constantly developing knowledge organisers at KS3 and KS4. Regular Knowledge tests enable us to define the core knowledge our students need to master. In German, we also implement our curriculum through using a variety of teaching approaches and tasks which encompass the four key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Further rationale behind our curriculum design includes the revisiting and building on existing knowledge. The topic areas and grammatical structures which are introduced at KS3, are seen as building blocks for more in-depth learning at KS4 (& KS5) and the use of IT programmes such as Linguascope are well-established for reinforcing newly acquired knowledge or for setting lagged homework for supporting longer term memory. We have the same high expectations and goals/aspirations for all students but scaffold effectively to allow all to progress towards them. We see the potential in every child.

Our curriculum will enable pupils to develop their character, including resilience, confidence and independence, so that they contribute positively to the life of the school, their local community and the wider environment.

Strategies on what the German curriculum delivery looks like in the classroom:

Lesson structure (Do Now, Review, I do, We do, You do)
Questioning (think time, cold call, no opt out)
Structured inquiry (stimulus, build curiosity, Jamboard, reflection)
Feedback through formative/summative assessments & Blue Pen Review
Strategies to ensure students remember more: use of Knowledge Organisers and regular Knowledge tests & retrieval practice
Scaffolding to support all students’ learning
Homework to support students with consolidating their learning
Interactive online platforms are used to help kinesthetic learners and reinforce vocabulary and structures.

Curriculum End Points

The German Curriculum at the Leigh UTC aims to ensure that all pupils:

understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied

We also develop the skills required to ‘develop young STEM professionals for future global markets.’

By the end of Year 11 a completed curriculum will offer students the best opportunity for success at either foundation or higher level GCSE. Exam technique is practised in lessons and intervention classes. Past papers are used to identify any knowledge gaps over the course of student studies. Students will develop into confident language learners, able to communicate independently and understanding the fundamental requirements of language learning.

Curriculum Overview

Module 1

Rund um die Arbeit

Paper 1
Paper 3

Module 2

Eine Wunderbare Welt

Paper 2

Modules 3 and 4

Wiederholung

Exampro Revision

Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
Paper 4

By the end of Year 10, students will have covered all topics relating to their KS3 learning.

This includes the following competences of language learning:

Grammar and vocabulary

identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied
use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods, as appropriate
develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues
use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Linguistic competence

listen to a variety of forms of spoken language to obtain information and respond appropriately
transcribe words and short sentences that they hear with increasing accuracy
initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address
express and develop ideas clearly and with increasing accuracy, both orally and in writing
speak coherently and confidently, with increasingly accurate pronunciation and intonation
read and show comprehension of original and adapted materials from a range of different sources, understanding the purpose, important ideas and details, and provide an accurate English translation of short, suitable material
read literary texts in the language (such as stories, songs, poems and letters), to stimulate ideas, develop creative expression and expand understanding of the language and culture

Their learning will occur almost exclusively in the context of GCSE examinations and will allow them to explore topics not yet addressed i.e. Theme 3: Education post 16, jobs, careers choices and ambitions.

Curriculum Overview

Module 1

Auf in die Schule

Paper 1
Paper 3
Paper 4

Module 2

Zeit für die Freizeit

Paper 2

Module 3

Menschliche Beziehungen

Paper 3
Paper 4

Module 4

Willkommen bei mir

Paper 1
Paper 3

Module 5

Ich mag Wien

Paper 2

Module 6

Im Urlaub und zu Hause

Paper 4

By the end of year 9, students will be using three tenses to speak about a range of topics. They will be able to express and justify opinions with confidence using clear pronunciation. Students will be working towards using and recognising three tenses and applying other grammatical concepts, such as adjective endings and word order. They will be able to extract key information when listening and reading about a range of topics. They can write more extended texts which demonstrate application of grammatical points learned throughout Key Stage 3 and a range of vocabulary. Students will be able to translate single sentences and short paragraphs into the language and into English in preparation for GCSE. They can respond to feedback and self-correct common errors with guidance. By the end of Year 9, students should have a solid foundation of grammar and vocabulary to be successful learners at MFL GCSE, as well as having developed their resilience and independence.

Curriculum Overview

Module 1

Die Kindheit

ATL:

Communication: take notes and paraphrase.
Creative thinking skills: use existing texts in new ways.

Module 2

Vorbilder

ATL:

Communication: use intercultural understanding to interpret others.
Critical thinking skills: consider perspectives.

Module 3

Die Musik

ATL:

Critical thinking skills: develop arguments.
Communication: use intercultural understanding to interpret others.

Module 4

Rechte und Pflichten

ATL:

Communication: Writing
Critical Thinking: Combine knowledge, understanding and skill.

Module 5

Die Musik

ATL:

Critical thinking skills: develop arguments.
Communication: use intercultural understanding to interpret others.

Module 6

Projektzone: Rucksackprojekt

ATL:

Communication: Use a variety of writing techniques.
Creative Thinking Skills: Create Original Works

By the end of year 8, students will be using two tenses to speak about a range of topics. They will be increasingly confident when pronouncing both familiar and unfamiliar language, using letter strings/phonics. They will be able to express an opinion and give a simple justification. Students will be growing in confidence when applying grammatical concepts such as adjective endings and word order. They will be able to deal with texts and audio extracts in two tenses and extract key information about topics covered. Year 8 students will be able to write in more detail, using a variety of pronouns and justified opinions. They will have begun to develop some GCSE skills, such as translation, writing according to bullet points and a general conversation style speaking assessment. By the end of year 8, students will have a solid foundation in the language(s) they have chosen to study in Year 9, including basic grammatical knowledge and a broadening vocabulary.

Curriculum Overview

Module 1

Ich liebe Ferien!

ATL:

Critical Thinking: Consider perspectives.
Communication: Use intercultural understanding to interpret others.

Assessment Criteria: CD

A piece of writing about your previous holiday.

A short conversation.

Module 2

Klassenreisen machen Spaß

ATL:

Critical Thinking: Analyse
Critical Thinking: Inquire

Assessment Criteria: AB

Module 3

Wir gehen aus

ATL:

Creative thinking skills: Use existing works in new ways
Self management: develop new skills.

Assessment Criteria: C

Module 4

Bleib gesund

ATL:

Creative Thinking: Ask What Ifs and create hypotheses
Communication: Writing

Assessment Criteria: BCD

Module 5

Bist du ein Medienfan?

ATL:

Social skills: listen to others.
Research: communicate using a variety of media and format.

Assessment Criteria: BC

Module 6

Modenschau

ATL:

Critical Thinking: Evaluate
Communication: Structure and organise information

Assessment Criteria: A

Giving a short presentation on fashion brands

By the end of year 7, students will be able to answer basic questions about personal information, including simple opinions. They will have some confidence in pronouncing common letter strings and reading out loud. Students will have some knowledge of fundamental grammatical concepts, including identifying nouns, adjectives and verbs. They will be able to identify some language and opinions in listening and reading. They can produce short texts about themselves with some connectives and opinions, and understand the importance of accuracy, including spelling, capital letters and use of accents. Students will understand that there are many ways to learn vocabulary and will be given the opportunity to try and find the method that works for them. They are beginning to develop an awareness of proof-reading and improving their work. Our ambition for our year 7 students is to feel confident and positive about their progress in the first year of language learning, whichever language they study, to understand the attributes of being a good language learner, and to enjoy the experience.