Supporting the new secondary curriculum for languages

Many schools are moving to a two-year Key Stage 3 as part of their response to the new curriculum. This can provide an excellent opportunity for languages, but there can also be a risk of languages becoming marginalised. The need to shorten the Key Stage 3 curriculum to two years provides an opportunity to reduce topics and vocabulary-focused content in schemes of work, as encouraged in the revised Programme of Study, and could be a starting point for structuring the Key Stage 3 curriculum differently.

Here are some possible approaches, all of which provide opportunities to link in meaningful ways with other subjects and to help pupils to become independent learners.

Units of work could be organised around:

• Use of language such as expressing your point of view, saying what you want, finding out and recording information, writing poetry or keeping a diary
• Cultural themes relating to the target language, including history, geography and the arts
• Language learning skills, with pupils having some freedom to choose their own contexts and vocabulary. Examples might include work on phonics, thinking skills, or building longer and more complex sentences.

If the school is planning cross curriculum themes for years 7 and 8, languages departments can think creatively about how to contribute to them. But they need to remind curriculum managers that pupils MUST have frequent and regular access to learning in the target language in order to make progress.

The information below summarises the statutory position in terms of what must be taught, and available guidance on timetabling:

The statutory requirement is that all pupils in Key Stage 3 must follow a learning programme for modern foreign languages that covers all aspects of the revised programme of study. The amount of time they have for learning should be sufficient to enable them to achieve their potential in the subject, ie. by the end of the key stage their level of attainment should be appropriate in relation to their prior learning and capability in the subject.

The school is required to report the National Curriculum level of all pupils in languages at the end of Key Stage 3. If a pupil is not studying a language in year 9, the level they reach by the end of year 8 will be reported, and therefore should be as good as it would have been if they had had an additional year of learning. The school can't make an assumption that they would have made little progress in year 9 due to lack of motivation - the purpose of the new curriculum is for learners to enjoy and succeed in all the required elements of the curriculum.

To meet the statutory requirement, schools need to find a way of increasing and enhancing learning opportunities proportionately in years 7 and 8 if pupils miss their third year of language learning. This might include intensive weeks of language immersion, for example. However, even with enhanced learning opportunities, year 8 pupils may find it difficult to reach the same level as they would have if they had continued learning for a further year.

Supplementary guidelines for foundation subjects were published in 2005 for schools considering a two year key stage 3, but are now no longer available online. The guidelines state that "Teachers need to make secure judgements about whether they and their pupils are able and willing to give their early modern foreign languages work the intensive and challenging character that a condensed curriculum will demand." The document advises that years 8 and 9 of the Key Stage 3 languages framework should be taught during year 8.

In 2003, the DFES and QCA published guidance entitled Designing the Key Stage 3 curriculum (pdf, 239KB) as part of the KS3 National Strategy. The guidance is still available on the QCDA website (Ref: DfES 0003/2002). In Appendix 1 on page 27, the guidance states: "There are no prescribed time allocations. It is up to each school to determine the amount of time needed for its pupils to cover the programmes of study successfully in all subjects." However, the Appendix provides 'starting points' including a subject list which allocates 2 hours per week, or 8% of taught time, to languages. Languages is also given 2 hours per week in almost all the case studies that are featured. The document also notes that "Some subjects, notably English, mathematics and modern foreign languages, need to take place very regularly, which implies more frequent, but shorter, lessons." (page 15)

The revised languages Programme of Study states that "The curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to .. hear, speak, read and write in the target language regularly and frequently within the classroom and beyond" (in the Curriculum Opportunities section). This means that having long gaps in learning is not considered to be effective in terms of progression. It would nonetheless be important to offer a language course in Key Stage 4 for pupils who dropped languages in year 8 but would like to take up language learning again, perhaps in the light of a particular career choice - ie. a 're-entry' opportunity.

The DCSF Languages Review asks schools to maximise the number of pupils who continue to learn a language in key stage 4, with a minimum benchmark of 50%, and the school would need to demonstrate how their 2 year KS3 model is maintaining or working towards this.

The judgement about the effectiveness of languages in a shortened KS3 is ultimately about the linguistic competence achieved by pupils (of all abilities) during their time at the school. If most or all pupils continue with languages in KS4 because they start their GCSE or other types of language courses in year 9, this would be a very acceptable model. If, however, a significant proportion of pupils achieve below average levels of attainment in MFL because of restricted learning time, it would not be seen as delivering the statutory requirement.

If your school is definitely moving to a 2 year KS3, a starting point could be to brainstorm ways of making the most of the opportunity for languages, and to insist on including some intensive learning modules that make up for the lost time. The school's goal should be to have all students reaching higher levels in languages as a result of the change, and more continuing into Key Stage 4.

There are some guidance documents produced by the National Strategies which provide information and examples of curriculum models for a two-year Key Stage 3:

1) A condensed Key Stage 3: Designing a flexible curriculum (pdf, 732KB), published in 2004. DCSF ref:0798-2004

2) A condensed Key Stage 3: Designing a flexible curriculum update (pdf, 230KB), published in 2006. DCSF ref: 0259-2006
The latter document states:

"The criteria for entering a pupil for an end-of-key stage assessment early are:

• the headteacher judges that the pupil has completed the Key Stage 3 programme of
  study;
• the pupil is ready to move onto the Key Stage 4 programme of study;
• the pupil has reached at least the nationally expected standard of level 5/6."

(page 3)

A DVD/CD is also available, published in 2007.

Some skills-based curriculum initiatives, such as those below, may be associated with a two-year Key Stage 3:
Opening Minds
Enquiring Minds