French

Your child will be taken on an exciting linguistic and cultural journey for two lessons a week in Years 7 and 8, and two lessons in Year 9.  Emphasis is on the spoken language and simple classroom commands are given in French. Your child will be encouraged to respond in French and to take part in communicative activities. Many language structures are taught through games and songs. Teacher presentations of the language are mostly done using the Interactive Whiteboard. We have access to the French Internet and live broadcasts of French TV channels on Satellite television for use in our classroom. For each stage, pupils have access to online exercises or language software for which we have a site licence.  Reading for pleasure in French is encouraged, and pupils can choose the level at which they read. Pupils also work in pairs to practise and record role-play situations.

What will your child study?

Year 7
The focus in our Year 7 course is on topics which are familiar to younger learners and the main characters featured in the course book live in Dieppe.

The topics studied in Year 7 are:
Greetings, giving details about family, personal descriptions
School life
Hobbies, likes and dislikes, going places
Week-end activities, past and present
Food and drink
Countries and the weather
Home and home area

Pupils enjoy working from the Taskmagic for Equipe nouvelle 1 software and we also use the Equipe 1 software for self assessment.

Year 8
Book 2 of the Equipe Nouvelle course book features the town of Dieppe as a setting for an ongoing teenage storyline. There are plenty of grammatical practice and explanation, an interesting and fun range of exercises, good pronunciation activities and increasingly demanding reading passages. Pupils enjoy working from the Taskmagic for Equipe Nouvelle 2 software.
The topics studied in Year 8 are:
Going out
Daily routine
Special dates and events
Transport and holidays
Pocket money, spending and saving
Information technology
A visit to France

Year 9
Your child will get acquainted with the French speaking world with an excellent language video
programme called Jeunes Francophones. The Clémentine drama of teenage life and the Vingt Minutes programme on an exchange visit to the south of France are also very popular.

The topics studied in our Year 9 course are:

1. Talking about leisure activities:
Watching TV, going to the cinema, reading
Introducing yourself, describing people, jobs and personality
Talking about what you did last week-end
2. Planning for the future:
Talking about the future
Talking about future careers and why languages are important
3. Describing your home:
Talking about improving your home area
Countries and being environmentally friendly
Talking about health and healthy lifestyle
Talking about keep fit activities we have done recently or during holidays
4. Discussing people:
French speaking sports people
Describing other people
Understanding information about other people
5. Holidays in France:
Learning about a region of France, Normandy
Travel and hotel accommodation
A visit to an attraction
6. Children’s rights:
Schools in different countries
Young people and work
Tackling hunger in the world
Learning about religion in France
Human rights activists.

How will your child be assessed?
Pupils are assessed regularly in all four skills in class and in their homework.  There are regular end of units assessments, a software package for self assessment and there is also an end of year examination.

Work set will be differentiated
By using a variety of teaching methods
By the provision of differentiated tasks where it is appropriate
By providing extension tasks and open-ended tasks where necessary.
Homework is used to support the work done in class: The course book is supplemented by a work book which your child will often be asked to complete for prep for additional support and language practice.

What trips and activities will your child take part in?
Your child will be encouraged to experience the language abroad. We run  an exchange programme with a school in Nîmes.

Languages are vital for mutual understanding and for personal development in a global world. They have become increasingly important in work and leisure; more and more people travel abroad to work or decide to live abroad.

Even if your future place of work is in the UK, whether you work in the Sciences, Education, the Arts, the Media, or in Business, you will almost certainly need to use a foreign language in our world of faster communication technology and expanding international markets.

Finance, IT, and legal services are the three business sectors from which language providers currently have the most work. It is predicted that future demand will remain constant in these three sectors, while demand increases in the property industry, leisure and tourism, as well as in the public service sector.

With 200 + countries taking part in the Olympics, an estimated 70,000 volunteers will be needed to help run the 2012 Games at least bilingually in French and English, so languages look set to get a huge boost over the next few years and already, organisations and businesses are starting to factor the need for language skills into their planning.

In your future studies, you may decide to undertake work experience or have a gap year abroad, or you may study at an English University that offers a period at a partner University in France or Germany.

Whatever your future qualifications you will be able to make use of language GCSEs for work abroad in any country of the European Union. Anyone who wants to succeed in today's global job market needs to be able to understand the motivation of business colleagues and to be able to communicate their own interests, so speaking their language will always be an advantage.

Our course
You will use multi-media language software as well as language sites on the Internet. You will study increasingly advanced authentic texts in French.  The topics cover the situations you are likely to encounter while on holiday, or on an exchange trip, in a French speaking country. They are also the topics needed to provide information and give opinions about everyday activities, personal and social life and the world around us, including countries where French is spoken. There will also be discussions on current issues of interest to students.  Finally, it is highly recommended that you take part in an exchange programme or other study tours. You will be expected to visit France at least once during the course.

Assessment
Assessment can be either staggered or taken at the end of our course. You may be entered for a Foundation or Higher paper according to your strength in each of the skills of listening and reading. Speaking and writing will be untiered.

Unit 1: Listening – External examination (Foundation 30 mins or Higher 40 minutes) – worth 20% of the GCSE

Unit 2: Reading – External examination (Foundation 30 mins or Higher 40 minutes) – worth 20% of the GCSE

Unit 3: Speaking – Controlled Assessment – worth 30% of the GCSE

Students will complete two speaking assessment tasks. Both tasks will be in the form of a dialogue. One task will be finalised during year 10 during examination week. The second task will be taken during year 11.

Unit 3: Writing – Controlled Assessment – worth 30% of the GCSE
Students will complete two written controlled assessment tasks. One task will be finalised during year 10 during our examination week. The second task will be taken during year 11.

Specification: AQA French 4658
Click here to download the current specification for this GCSE course.

To find out more about the value of studying languages, or for careers information and advice about languages, visit the website www.languageswork.org.uk

AS and A Level

To study a language beyond GCSE is an invaluable asset. You can explore other cultures, find a successful career, work for an international company and benefit from globalisation. Many universities offer degree courses which enable students to combine a modern language with a broad range of other disciplines. More and more employers are demanding exactly the skills which language degrees develop, such as communication skills, interpersonal and presentation skills, problem solving, team working, organisational skills, independence.

There is a great and increasing demand in the workplace for people who can speak languages other than English for the following reasons: 75% of the world's population does not speak English, other European countries are aiming for skills in three languages, 60% + of British trade is with non-English speaking countries and British business has the poorest language skills in Europe.

Why French?
Art, literature, music, food, wine, fashion and worldly sophistication, the study of French and Francophone cultures is fascinating in itself. But it also gives insight into the values of our own language and culture.

French is also a practical language that will expand your world and your job prospects. Learning French will prepare you for careers in education, international law and business, the arts, international health organisations, anthropology, diplomacy and more. French is spoken not just in France, Canada, Belgium or Switzerland, but also in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mauritius, Cameroon, Réunion, Sénégal, Mali and in parts of India and Vietnam. In fact, it is the second most widely used language, after English, at the United Nations.  French is the first or second language in more than 40 countries, spoken on every continent.  It is the mother tongue of over 100 million people. French is one of the official working languages in dozens of international organisations. British companies and organisations have many links with France.

The study of French and Francophone texts will train you to think critically, to develop your research skills, and to understand the power of language. You will be considering issues of importance in contemporary society, while at the same time studying in some depth the culture of a French speaking country.

You will be able to:
Understand language spoken at normal speed by native speakers, drawn from a variety of authentic contexts.

Understand printed and written texts from a variety of sources and in a variety of registers.

Communicate effectively in the spoken language to exchange information, ideas, and opinions (including the possibility of interpreting between English native speakers and speakers of the foreign language).

Develop knowledge of and critical insights into the culture, heritage and contemporary society of France or a French-speaking country.

Communicate effectively in writing and show appropriate and accurate handling of the written language.

Specification: AQA French  AS 1651  A 2651
Click here to download the current specification for this A level course.

In order to study for the language at this level you should normally have acquired the knowledge, understanding and skills specified for GCSE at Higher Tier. The course encourages maximum use of the foreign language and all four examination units have instructions in French.

You will have access to listening equipment over which you have individual control as well as to satellite television and French websites. The course is topic-based and the progression through AS and A level is assured by having distinct units at each level. Candidates take two units for the Advanced Subsidiary GCE and then take a further two units to achieve the full Advanced GCE award. There is no written coursework.

The AS course will cover:

Media: TV, advertising and communication technology
Popular culture: cinema, music and fashion/trends
Healthy living/lifestyle: sport/exercise, health and well-being and holidays
Family/relationships: relationships within the family, friendships and marriage/partnerships.

The AS specification has 2 units:
Unit 1: listening, reading and writing
Unit 2: Speaking test

The A2 course will cover:

Environment: pollution, energy and protecting the planet
The multi-cultural society: immigration, integration and racism
Contemporary social issues: wealth and poverty, law and order and the impact of scientific and technological progress
Cultural topic: the study of a target language speaking region/community or the study of a period of 20th century history from a target language-speaking country/community or the study of a novelist/dramatist/poet from a target language-speaking country/community or the study of a director/architect/musician/painter from a target language-speaking country/ community.

The A2 specification has 2 units:
Unit 3: listening, reading and writing
Unit 4: Speaking test