Intent

Urdu is a language spoken and understood within larger parts of the world and within the UK. It is important for the students to be able to communicate in Urdu as a foreign language. This will also allow them to better understand the culture of the people whose first language is Urdu. It will enhance their interest in Urdu literature which is quite rich and complex.

PMGHS Urdu curriculum focuses on the development of students’, communication, writing and expression skills. The curriculum teaches phonation and develops vocabulary and grammar. They learn how to converse confidently and retain commonly used terminology in Urdu. Variable capabilities and backgrounds of students are kept in consideration to develop Urdu language skills through individual, independent and group work. The curriculum ensures the development of confidence and interest in the Urdu language to become effective communicators going forward.

Implementation

Urdu teaching follows the GCSE national curriculum of UK. Classroom teaching is conducted by a teacher who is a native speaker with resources developed within the school allowing effective learning at PMGHS.

KS3:

Our KS3 curriculum foreshadows the five themes of the GCSE course for Urdu detailed in the Edexcel Examination Board.

Teaching activities are designed in a progressive and sequenced manner. Our approach includes sentence builders, extensive drilling of vocabularies through various activities as well as focus on speaking and listening skills.

Typically given the complexity of the language structure, written skills are developed within the early stages of teaching. When teaching, 75% of time is spent on written and reading skills with the remainder focused on speaking. During which learning the fundamental Urdu vocabulary is key.

KS3 stages are designed to allow students to learn the alphabet and phonation which are developed progressively to use Urdu communication. Teaching strategies are adapted to the needs of the students allowing them to learn effectively and students are encouraged to use the language by creating interesting learning tools.

KS4:

The KS4 curriculum follows on from KS3 stage curriculum by strengthening phonation, grammar, sentence construction and vocabulary. The students are encouraged through role plays. The students are exposed to common communication patterns through outdoor /indoor activities. Urdu is consolidated through reading, speaking, and writing which are sequenced and aligned with each other. Role plays and flashcards are used to help with pronunciation and communication. The assessments include all elements including speaking confidently.

Our objective is to enable students of all abilities to develop their Urdu language skills to their full potential.

Impact

Assessment is regularly taken during the Urdu curriculum to ensure and assess the progress of students which informs our planning. Students on a regular basis complete vocabulary test, speaking assessments and marked listening activities. These provide continuous development for our students leading to a positive impact in our results.

The pupils of PMGHS achieve high grades in Urdu language GCSE in successive years. The current result grades were significantly above the national average, with the average grade being a distinction at level 2.

Urdu language results confirm that the curriculum and teaching/learning activities embed the language skills in an effective manner. The students demonstrate the desired confidence and interest in the language.

In PMGHS Throughout the years, the uptake of Urdu has been most popular amongst our pupils at Preston Muslim Girls. Our students continue to demonstrate better achievement than similar schools and the national average.