KS4 Overview
In years 10 and 11, we work towards the Edexcel GCSE. However in keeping with our curriculum intent, we have created a curriculum which ensures academic success in this qualification whilst fostering a love of the culture and meaningful fluency.
Building on KS3 and preparing for KS5…
Due to the linear nature of the subject, everything that students have learnt at KS3 is relevant! We build on and develop all of the grammatical knowledge that students have accumulated through Years 7-9 and because students have a solid grounding in the language, we are able to move quickly on to more complex language, which supports the high aspirations we have for all of the students in our classrooms.
Similarly to the transition between KS3 and KS4, the linear nature of learning a language means that the knowledge gained during the GCSE course is all totally relevant to the KS5 course. Whilst we are, of course, very focused on supporting pupils to achieve the highest grade in their GCSE, we are also determined that this does not mean that there is no time to go beyond the syllabus and create opportunities to prompt discussion on areas which students are passionate about and to continue broadening their cultural awareness. This feeds directly into the more culturally rich A-Level courses.
KS4 Assessment
As at KS3, to ensure that the intent and implementation of our curriculum is having the optimum impact, formative assessment can be seen in each and every languages lesson at TGGS. Teachers’ formative assessment forms an important part of knowing our impact as a subject team, and we put a lot of emphasis on this. We use the following strategies in class to constantly check for understanding:
- Mini whiteboards
- Strategic questioning
- Live marking
- Low-stakes vocabulary tests
- Retrieval practice ‘Do Now’ activities
Because this is a constant process, we are rarely surprised when it comes to more formal assessment points; we have a solid knowledge of what our students have understood and what needs to be revisited and will we have done this before we reach formal assessments.
Formal assessments at KS4 align with the GCSE assessment objectives and therefore involve:
- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
We use the Edexcel ‘Exam Wizard’ assessment tool to produce assessments made up of past exam questions relevant to the topic being studied. This ensures that our students develop an awareness of question type and style right from the beginning of the course.
KS4 Content
Exam Board and website link
French: Pearson Edexcel GCSE French (2016) | Pearson qualifications
German: Pearson Edexcel GCSE German (2016) | Pearson qualifications
Spanish: Edexcel GCSE Spanish (2016) | Pearson qualifications
Details of external assessment
Students work towards the Edexcel GCSE, which encompasses the following five themes:
● Identity and culture
● Local area, holiday and travel
● School
● Future aspirations, study and work
● International and global dimension.
All assessment takes place at the end of the two-year course and is made up of:
- Paper 1: listening exam lasting 50 minutes (25%)
- Paper 2: speaking exam lasting approx. 22 minutes (including 12 minutes preparation time) This takes place with the student’s teacher and is recorded and marked externally by Edexcel (25%)
- Paper 3: reading exam lasting 1 hour (25%)
- Paper 4: writing exam lasting 1 hour 20 minutes (25%)