Welcome to Languages
Languages Department
At Madani, students study both French and Arabic in years 7-8. In year 8 students then select which language they will continue with to complete the key stage 3 course. At GCSE, students can then choose between French and Arabic. Depending on students’ prior knowledge, there may also be opportunities for other languages to be taught and learnt, for example, community languages like Urdu.
In Languages at Madani Schools, students access a variety of topics to inspire a range of interests. We ask students, in the exploration of the curriculum, to reflect on their own spirituality and identity. In this respect we might draw from Hadith, so that our ethos is reflected in our curriculum.
We begin with topics that start with students reflecting on themselves before looking outwards. Thus, personal information and opinions on school subjects would precede the environment or technology. From here we provide ample opportunity for students to revisit information to support their learning.
We provide students with opportunities to produce chunks of language as well as the understanding of how to build and manipulate language over time.
Building on the above, we also ensure students are able to both understand the language in listening and reading and to express themselves in speaking and writing.
In line with current educational research in MFL, we ensure students are exposed to authentic contexts including literature.
We like students to finish our key stage 3 and 4 courses with a greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures and we like to nurture a curiosity to find out more. We encourage this, using books, films, trips, and skyping in ‘visitors’ from classrooms and locations around the world.
We are keen to support students to access a range of enrichment opportunities through trips, both European and international. We also work with a range of organisations like Universities and the British council.
We intend for students to gain transferrable skills from their language learning which gives them the platform to study a language further, or to use their knowledge of language learning to learn a new language. They may demonstrate this in their desire to do a GCSE, but equally, it may come back to them in the workplace, at University, in further study or on holiday.
Languages Map of Learning