French

The French language is widely spoken in the European Union, Africa, Canada and the Middle East and is used by many international organisations. It addition to its value in leisure, commerce and international relations, French is a language with a rich cultural heritage.

The majority of Year 6-9 students take French - all except a comparatively small number who on the advice of the Modern Foreign Languages and English teams, take Extra English instead. From Year 6-9, students are placed in French sets according to their level of proficiency and ability. In Years 10-13, GCSE, AS and A2 French are optional subjects.

Across all year groups, French is taught by specialist teachers. The four skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing are given equal emphasis.

Timing

In Years 6-11, two lessons of 65 minutes each are allocated to French per week. In the Sixth Form Department, in common with all other subjects, five such lessons are allocated.

Teaching Methods

Lessons are conducted mainly in French and class time is divided between listening, speaking, reading and writing tasks. Activities include textbook work, written exercises, games, paired work and role-play. Students use their laptops to conduct research, to listen to spoken French and to learn and practise grammatical structures and vocabulary.

COURSE OVERVIEWS

YEAR 6

Topics: family and friends, home, daily routine, town and leisure. Grammar elements include prepositions, possessive adjectives, negatives, regular and irregular verbs in the present tense, and the near future tense.

YEAR 7

Topics: shopping, travel, school, staying with a French family, eating out, clothes, health, going out, leisure. Grammar elements include reflexive verbs in the present tense, the near future tense, the perfect tense, comparison of adjectives and object pronouns.

YEAR 8

Topics: home and family, free time, going out, shopping, food and meals, travel and friends. Grammar elements include regular and irregular verbs in the past, present and future tenses and infinitive constructions.

YEAR 9

Topics: leisure, future plans, health, holidays, travel, the world of work, global issues. Grammar elements introduced in the Middle Department are consolidated and students learn to use the imperfect tense and infinitive constructions.

YEAR 10: GCSE

Topics: personal identification, free time, town and country, travel, shopping and school. Grammar elements include a range of verb tenses, pronouns, infinitive constructions and adjectives.

YEAR 11: GCSE

Topics: the world of work, tourism, a healthy lifestyle, the environment. Grammar elements from Year 10 are consolidated and students are introduced to relative pronouns, the perfect infinitive and the passive voice. Students prepare for their examinations using GCSE past papers. Students enter for either Edexcel Foundation or Higher papers.

YEAR 12: AS LEVEL

Terms 1 and 2:
Module 1 - Youth culture, including relationships, peer pressure, television, the internet, the mobile phone and music.
Module 2 - Lifestyle, including sporting activities, leisure, food and diet.

Terms 3 and 4:
Module 3 - Education and the future, including the French education system, student daily life and concerns, higher education and the world of work.
Module 4 - The world around us, including travel, the environment, natural disasters, relief organizations and the French-speaking world.

Term 5: Revision and practice with past exam papers.

YEAR 13: A2 LEVEL

Terms 1 and 2:
Module 1 - French history, art, architecture, cinema and literature.
Module 2 - Problems in modern society including crime, housing, racial discrimination.
Students also conduct research on a topic or literary text of their choice.

Terms 3 and 4:
Module 3 - World issues including poverty, disease, conflict, immigration, modern technology.
Module 4 - Ethical issues including women's rights, cloning, genetic engineering, euthanasia.
Students also research and prepare their chosen oral discussion issue.

Term 5: Revision and examination practice.