The Key Stage 3 MFL curriculum at Ercall Wood Academy is designed to develop students’ communication skills, self-efficacy, and strong language retention, fostering independence and autonomy in their learning. Through the three pillars of progression – phonology, vocabulary, and grammar – students build a solid foundation in phonetics, enabling them to converse confidently and apply their literacy skills from their first language. They learn to manipulate grammar, allowing them to personalise their communication and retain core, high frequency vocabulary and phrases that can be applied in various real-life contexts. This approach helps students become resilient, open-minded, and versatile linguists capable of effective communication across a wide range of situations.

The implementation of the language curriculum at Ercall Wood Academy is designed to build students’ communication skills, self-efficacy, and language retention through a structured approach focused on the three pillars of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar. The curriculum starts in Year 7 with an emphasis on phonics and foundational grammatical concepts, such as verb conjugation, noun gender, and adjective agreement. This knowledge is essential for progression to more complex language structures in Years 8 and 9, where students describe events in past and future tenses.

Key to the curriculum’s implementation is its focus on independence and autonomy. Students are encouraged to retrieve and use language chunks – frequently recurring word combinations – rather than isolated words, which enhances fluency and long-term retention. This approach reflects research that suggests memorising formulaic expressions and learning in chunks is more efficient than constructing sentences from scratch. To further support language acquisition, seed planting is used, exposing students early on to high-frequency phrases like “I would like” even before they fully understand the underlying grammar, allowing them to apply these chunks confidently in real-life situations.

The curriculum is knowledge-rich and designed to ensure systematic practice and retrieval in every lesson. Regular vocabulary quizzes, sentence builders, and retrieval tasks reinforce key grammatical structures and vocabulary, helping students retain and recall language over time. The curriculum prioritises listening and speaking skills, which are seen as the foundation of language learning, before progressing to reading and writing. This emphasis on oracy is supported by consistent modelling from teachers, who also guide students in effective self-quizzing and revision techniques.

Opportunities to apply language knowledge in real-world contexts, such as visits from foreign students and online cultural resources, are integrated throughout Key Stages 3, enhancing students’ cultural and social awareness. The curriculum revisits key concepts across years and lessons, ensuring that retrieval and recall strategies are embedded into the learning process. Through this approach, students develop long-term memory, confidence, and a passion for language learning, equipping them to succeed at GCSE and beyond.

Progress in language learning at Ercall Wood Academy is continuously monitored through a combination of formative and summative assessments, ensuring that students build and retain knowledge over time. In each lesson, progress is tracked through regular quizzes on vocabulary and grammar and ongoing feedback. Retrieval practice plays a key role, enabling students to assess their own understanding, identify gaps, and develop the metacognitive skills necessary for independent learning. Through regular recall, feedback, and opportunities to improve their work, students gain confidence in their speaking, reading, and writing skills, fostering a sense of self-efficacy.

The impact of this approach is evident in both formative classroom activities and summative assessments, where most students are making expected progress. While some students may take longer due to factors such as the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on retrieval and feedback equips learners with the tools to close gaps in their knowledge. By understanding how memory works and learning effective study techniques, students become more confident and autonomous in their learning journey.

Mastery is achieved through repeated practice of key terms and grammatical structures, with lessons emphasising spaced retrieval to ensure long-term retention. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge are tested weekly and revisited frequently to ensure that students can apply their learning across different contexts. This interleaved approach allows students to transfer knowledge, such as tenses and adjectival endings, across various topics, rather than compartmentalizing learning into isolated units.

Summative assessments at the end of each term, and cumulatively at the end of the year, provide valuable data to track students’ progress. This data informs lesson planning, allowing teachers to reteach content where necessary and ensure students have a solid understanding before moving on to new topics. Additionally, by analysing student responses through visualisers, learners are encouraged to reflect on their progress and receive targeted feedback.

Learning HWK is set using the sentence builders (students learn key knowledge through revision techniques/ quizzing tasks etc.) – via Carousel Learning platforms or self-quizzing.

HWK set is specific to each teacher and class and is set at least 1x a week but ideally after each lesson unless lessons are one day after another.

The class teacher monitors and sets benchmark for acceptable completion of the learning retrieval HWK.

• Christmas market trip to Birmingham
• KS3 Brussels trip
• European Day of Languages
• French club

There is a demand for linguists across a range of sectors. Linguists work in travel and tourism industries, hospitality and catering, translation and interpreting, teaching, law, banking, media, sport and consultancy, as well as many forms of engineering and different government departments.

Typical employers include:

• local and central government
• tour operators
• global corporations
• schools, colleges, and universities
• police force
• professional sports teams
• legal firms
• energy companies
• advertising agencies

Here are just some examples of German companies based in Telford/Shropshire area.

• Protolabs – plastic injection moulding service
• Mahle Filter Systems UK LTD – plastic injection moulding service
• Probst Handling Equipment – mechanical engineering
• RBSL – aerospace company
• Bischof & Klein – packaging company
• Viessmann LTD – heating contractor
• Melitta UK Ltd/Cofresco Foodservice
• Kuehne + Nagel Ltd – trucking company
• Müller – food company