“The conquest of learning is achieved through the knowledge of languages.” - Roger Bacon
The Modern Languages Department offers French at both KS3 and KS4.
We currently teach French to all girls in Years 8 – 10 and have one GCSE class in Year 11 and one class in Year 12, both studying the new CCEA GCSE specification. Our students are given the opportunity to learn new vocabulary and key structures through a variety of carefully designed, supportive and engaging resources, with a focus on communication skills, developing their understanding of grammatical concepts to help students become more proficient writers in French. We encourage both independent and team learning through regular, carefully devised home study tasks and ICT research projects on various cultural, historical and geographical topics.
KS3 students begin their language learning journey with a range of topics and grammatical concepts. In Year 8 these include:
• Self, family and friends
• Pets
• Daily routine
• Where I live
• School subjects
• Sports
• Masculine and feminine
• Verbs avoir and être
• Present tense
• Reflexive verbs
In Year 9 pupils continue with the following topics:
• Countries and European languages
• Weather
• Transport and places in town
• Key verbs for relevant topics
• Near future tense
• Connecting words
• Food
• Chores
• Clothes / uniform and fashion
In Year 10 French studies include the following topics with a clear focus on improving written and oral skills in preparation for the GCSE course:
• Self / family and friends
• New technology / social media
• School
• Holidays
• Careers and future plans
• Healthy living
• Opinions
• Regular and irregular verbs at present, past and future tenses
Students follow the CCEA French GCSE specification which includes the following areas of study:
• Myself, my family, relationships and choices
• Social media and new technology
• Free time, leisure and daily routine
• Culture, customs, festivals and celebrations
• My local area and the wider environment
• Community involvement
• Social and global issues
• Travel and tourism
• My studies and school life
• Extra-curricular activities
• Part-time jobs and money management
• Future plans and career
Pupils can benefit from revision session on offer in the spring term and there are also opportunities for trips to Spain.
