French

Year 8 French

The KS3 French course builds upon the start already made at Middle School, using the skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing to widen the girls' vocabulary range and increase their knowledge of grammatical constructions. Among the topics covered in Year 8 are countries and nationalities, the weather, hobbies, places in town, asking for and giving directions, future holidays and careers, food, restaurants, recipes. Grammar points covered include prepositions, adjectives, the Present Tense of regular -er and -re verbs as well as several irregular verbs, and imperatives. The Near Future tense is taught to enable access to level 5 and above, and towards the end of the year the Perfect Tense is introduced. A range of teaching styles and materials are used, from text books to teacher-produced activities using the inter-active whiteboards.

Year 9 French.

The Year 9 course continues the focus on understanding and producing language in all three time frames. Among the topics covered are the body, expressing pain and feelings, health problems, healthy lifestyle, describing personality, past holidays, environmental issues and television. Grammar points taught include agreement of adjectives, the Perfect tense, imperatives, comparatives and superlatives. The girls are encouraged to produce longer sentences, including opinions with reasons, in preparation for GCSE work. A range of teaching styles and materials are used, from text books to teacher-produced activities and games using the inter-active whiteboards.

GCSE French

The AQA Linear GCSE Specification with Coursework is followed in Years 10 and 11. The course is divided into 4 themes: My World, Holiday Time and Travel, Work and Lifestyle and The Young Person in Society. Topics covered include school, relationships, helping at home, going out, part time jobs, future career, local area, shopping, pocket money, holidays, the home, media, healthy lifestyle, environmental issues, travel, breakdowns and accidents. Grammar is taught in context, with a focus on using all three time frames, and a range of vocabulary and structures. The course is assessed by testing the four skills of Reading, Listening Speaking and Writing separately, with written work being assessed through coursework. Usually 4-5 pieces are attempted, one of which must be under controlled conditions, and the best 3 from different themes are submitted. A variety of teaching styles and materials are used, from text books to teacher-produced activities and games using the inter-active whiteboards.