Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact for FRENCH

Curriculum intent statement:

The intent of the French curriculum at Sir Roger Manwood’s school is that pupils are taught to develop an interest in learning another language in a way that is enjoyable and stimulating. We encourage pupils’ confidence, we strive to stimulate and encourage their curiosity about language and we develop their awareness of cultural differences in other countries to deepen their understanding of the world. Our French curriculum is designed to progressively develop students’ skills in French as we strive to embed the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing necessary to enable students to use and apply their French learning in a variety of contexts and lay the foundations for future language learning equipping students to learn new ways of thinking, to read great literature in the original language and a possibility to study and work in other countries in the future.

ENGAGE: We consistently deliver engaging and stimulating lessons enthusiastically and aim to encourage a love of language learning with a wide variety of activities across all four skills.

EXPLORE: We teach culture alongside language and encourage pupils to identify linguistic patterns and structures. Students learn through curiosity and inquiry.

EXCEL: We have high expectations and regularly assess across the year group to encourage pupils to learn and reflect on their progress. The formative assessments we do enable us to ensure consistency across the teaching groups and enables the students to test their learning and progress.

French Curriculum

Year 7

In Year 7, students start by learning how to introduce themselves and their family.

Throughout the year, students get a thorough grounding in the basics of French grammar, which includes the present tense of regular er verbs, adjectives and adjectival agreements, articles and irregular verbs. They learn how to communicate about themselves, their family, their school and can undertake conversations in the target language. The four skills of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing are used and developed and tested regularly.  Students also get a better insight into French culture with a different focus every term. By the end of the year, students can engage in basic conversations and have developed their pronunciation skills through phonics.

Year 8

Year 8 are continuing to develop and strengthen their knowledge of grammar, consolidating the present tense and learning the perfect tense and the near future tense. They are learning to communicate about themselves, their daily lives and their environment. The four skills of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing are used and developed and tested regularly. Students also get a better insight into French culture with a different focus every term. By the end of the year, students can engage in conversations in 3 different time frames and have developed their pronunciation skills through phonics.

Year 9

In Year 9 pupils studying French lay the foundations for their GCSE studies. Through the four skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, they extend the ability to take part in a more complex range of topic areas. They further their knowledge of grammar by revising the basics and learning to use the simple future and the imperfect tense. Students also get a better insight into French culture with a different focus every term. By the end of the year, students can engage in more detailed conversations in 3 different time frames and have developed their pronunciation skills through phonics.

Year 10 (AQA GCSE specification)

This is the start of a two-year course aiming to bring the pupils' French up to the level required for a good pass in all 4 skills at GCSE. This means developing good, practical communicative skills, and at the same time building a sound grammatical base which will enable each student to speak and write correctly, and possibly continue language studies to A-level.

We therefore start year 10 with a thorough grammar revision of regular, reflexive and irregular verbs in the present tense and students learn to talk about themselves, their family and friends and future relationships’ choices more in depth. We then talk about technology in everyday life, free-time activities, customs and festivals and finally talking about your home, town, neighbourhood and region. A strong emphasis on numerous grammar points and different cultural points is made every term. Students revise all tenses and learn the conditional tense. Students practise the 4 skills (Listening, reading, speaking and writing) every week and vocabulary/grammar understanding is revised and consolidated every lesson.

Year 11 (AQA GCSE specification)

This is the second year of the French GCSE course. In year 11, students start with understanding and describing current social issues in France and in the world. We then discussing global issues, such as environmental problems and their solutions. Students also learn about travel and tourism, giving detailed preferences about their holidays. We then revisit the topic of school and education, describing subjects, future options and jobs and careers choices. Students learn to use more advanced grammar points such as the pluperfect and the subjunctive. Students practise the 4 skills (Listening, reading, speaking and writing) every week and vocabulary/grammar understanding is revised and consolidated every lesson. We establish a pattern of systematic revision, continue developing oral and comprehension skills, develop much greater skill and accuracy in continuous writing and finally develop GCSE examination techniques.

Year 12 (AQA A-Level specification)

In year 12, students start with the six AS topics and learn about family, cyber society, music, heritage, charity work and cinema. Students will gain an in-depth insight into the cultural, social, political and artistic aspects of the French speaking country/countries throughout the year as a very strong emphasis on culture is made every single lesson. Towards the end of year 12, students choose a subject or key question which interests them and which relates to a French‐speaking country and start their individual research project, which they will be tested on in their speaking exam, at the end of year 13. Students work individually, in groups and as a class to communicate effectively and to improve their accuracy and practise their speaking skills with our French assistant weekly. The language work during this year is aimed at building up general linguistic competence, and introducing vocabulary and ideas on the set topics required for the A-Level examination at the end of year 13.

Year 13 (AQA A-Level specification)

In year 13, students start with the study of two books and learn to complete more extended writing tasks in French for the literature essays. Then, students move onto the A2 topics and continue development of language skills and grammatical knowledge and translation. Students carry on practising their speaking skills every week with the French assistant, continuing developing oral and comprehension skills and developing much greater skill and accuracy in writing and translation tasks. Finally, we develop and practise A-Level examination techniques.

ENGAGE – EXPLORE – EXCEL