French
“With languages, you are at home anywhere.” - Edward De Waal
What makes French excellent at Chulmleigh?
As a department we are passionate about French and aim to foster a lifelong love of languages as pupils learn about the language and culture of the French speaking world.
The KS3 schemes of work are based on Dynamo 1, 2 and 3 for French with regular opportunities to develop skills in Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Translation.
At GCSE pupils follow the Edexcel Studio course as well as a range of additional resources and language-learning websites. Pupils develop confidence and proficiency in Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Translation skills.
The department enjoys excellent results at GCSE. The recent results were the best results in the Southwest.
Assessment
KS3:
Termly assessment
Speaking is assessed in class and once a year.
All pupils are regularly assessed on vocabulary (fortnightly).
Pupils have a vocabulary booklet and will be given a week to revise before being assessed. Online links will be attached on Class charts to practise the vocabulary from home.
This year we aim to reward pupils (House competition) for the top vocabulary results.
KS4:
Termly assessment – we aim to cover as many of the Language skills (Listening/Reading and Writing). Speaking is assessed in class and once a year.
All pupils are regularly assessed on vocabulary (fortnightly).
Pupils have a vocabulary booklet and will be given a week to revise before being assessed. Online links will be attached on Class charts to practise the vocabulary from home.
We have 4 Speaking mocks to assess/practice the Speaking element for their GCSE exam over the two years.
Year 11 will be practising writing once a week and will receive feedback the following week (whole-class feedback).
Year 7 Curriculum
Term 1
Introduction to French:
- Basic greetings and introductions
- Numbers 1-100
- Classroom language – describe a classroom
- Days of the week and months
- Basic personal information (name, age, nationality/brothers and sisters)
- Describe yourself and others (personality)
School life:
- School subjects and timetable
- Opinions about school subjects
- Telling the time
- Describe the school day
- Describe your uniform
Grammar:
- Subject pronouns
- Present tense of 'être' (to be) and 'avoir' (to have)
- Definite and indefinite articles
- Gender of nouns
- Adjective agreement and placement
- Possessive adjectives
- Present tense of regular -er verbs
Term 2
Free time:
- Weather and seasons
- Sport and hobbies
- Activities we do and like
- French speaking Athletes
- Hobbies and sports
- Television and film preferences
- Technology and social media
- Weekend activities
Grammar:
- Present tense of regular -ir and -re verbs irregular verbs (faire, aller)
- Reflexive verbs, present continuous.
- Time expressions
- Near future tense
- Negatives
Term 3
Home and Local Area:
- Describing your house and room
- Places in town
- Directions
- Weather
- Describing where they live
Grammar:
- Present tense of irregular verbs (faire, aller)
- Near future tense
- Present tense regular -ir verbs
- Transactional language
- Negatives
- Prepositions
- Using 'il y a' and 'il n’y a pas de'
- Expressions of quantity
- Partitive articles
- Modal verbs (vouloir, pouvoir, devoir)
- Past tense (perfect tense with avoir
Year 8 Curriculum
Term 1
Holiday:
- Saying what you did during the holidays
- Describing a visit to a theme park
- Saying where you went and how
- Listening for negatives in the perfect tense
- Asking and answering questions
Celebrations:
- Talking about festivals and special days
- Buying food at a market
- Talking about a future trip
- Writing about New Year
Grammar:
- Reflexive verbs in the present tense, present continuous
- Conditional tense, if-clauses
- Perfect tense of regular and irregular -er verbs/ être and avoir
- Using transactional language
- Near future tense
Term 2
Celebrations:
- Talking about TV programmes and technology
- Arranging to go to the cinema
- Buying cinema tickets
- Talking about leisure activities
Grammar:
- Using singular and plural adjective agreement
- Forming and answering a range of questions
- Negatives
- Spotting synonyms
- Using the 3 tenses
Term 3
Where you live:
- Talking about where you live
- What you do to help at home
- Daily routine
Sport and well being:
- Talking about sports
- Asking for directions
- Talking about injuries/illness
- Taking part in a conversation with a doctor
Grammar:
- Using comparative form
- Using the imperative form
- Il faut/il ne faut pas + infinitive
- Asking and answering questions in the 3 tenses
Year 9 Curriculum
Term 1
My world:
- Talking about extracurricular activities
- Describing your friends
- Describing a recent celebration
- What are you going to wear
Plans for the future:
- Talking about earning money
- Talking about what you want to do later in life
- Talking about what things will be like in the future
- Writing about an invention
Grammar:
- Using pouvoir and vouloir
- Using the future tense
- Consolidating the future tense
- Asking and answering questions in the 3 tenses
Term 2
Musical tastes:
- Talking about music
- Comparing Primary and secondary schools
- Talking about how things have changed
- Understand a biography of a person
Grammar:
- Using Direct object pronouns (le/la/ les)
- Using the comparative form
- Using the Imperfect tense
Term 3
Our planet:
- Talking about where you live
- What you do to help at home
- Daily routine
- Talking about food
- Describing a photo
- Talking about eating habits
- Taking about animals and the natural world
- Talking about plastic and the environment and your actions
Preparing for the GCSE course:
- Study of Module 2 – all about me
- Prepare module questions
Grammar:
- Revision of the 3 tenses
- Indirect object pronouns
- Expressions with avoir
Year 10 Curriculum
Term 1
GCSE course
Use of This is Language and Active HUB – pupils will be given a log-in
Module 1 – Media and Technology
Practicing the 4 skills on the theme of media and technology
Unit 1: my online life. Talking about online activities and habits, discussing pros and cons of online time (present tense & regular er verbs).
Unit 2: Do you have an active life? Describing activities for staying active. Using the present tense of irregular verbs.
Unit 3: What are you looking at? Discussing preferences for watching movies and videos. Forming and answering questions about entertainment habits.
Unit 4: What are you going to do? Plan and discuss upcoming activities and events using the future tense. Role-play making and responding to invitations.
Unit 5: What did you do? Share and compare weekend or holiday activities. Write a diary entry or short narrative about a recent event.
Use of This is Language and Active HUB – pupils will be given a log-in
Term 2
Module 4 – Healthy Living
Practicing the 4 skills on the theme of media and technology
Year 10 will have a Speaking mock in February.
Unit 1: Enjoy your food! Talking about healthy eating activities and habits, habits, nutrition (Partitive article du, de, la de l’, des).
Unit 2: Good about myself. Discussing physical appearance, body image and good mental health.
Unit 3: Isn't that okay?
Talking about health issues / accidents, seeking medical advice.
Unit 4: I change my life.
Discuss lifestyle changes and setting new health goals.
Unit 5: Live better.
Explore ways to improve overall quality of life.
Term 3
Module 3 – Education
Practicing the 4 skills on the theme of media and technology
Year 10 will have a Speaking mock in June.
Module 3: My School Life
Culture zone: At college with us (Francophone countries).
Unit 1: What is your favourite subject? Discussing school subjects, expressing preferences.
Unit 2: It is unfair! Talking about school rules and fairness, expressing opinions.
Unit 3: Have you made progress? Discussing academic progress setting goals using Perfect tense.
Unit 4: School memories.
Share and compare school memories.
Unit 5: Language and the future. Discuss the importance of languages for the future.
Year 11 Curriculum
Term 1
Module 8 – Future plans
Practicing the 4 skills on the theme of media and technology
Y11 will have a Speaking mock in November
Term 2
Module 5 – Holidays
Module 6 – Town and the Environment
Practicing the 4 skills on the theme of media and technology
Year 11 will have a final Speaking mock in March.
Term 3
Revision and start of the exam series.
GCSE speaking exam will be at the end of April.
Future Careers
If you combine French with another qualification, you could pursue careers such as:
- International lawyer
- Diplomat
- International business executive
- Management consultant
- Engineer working for multinational companies
- Data analyst in global firms
- Investment banker with international clients
Curricular enhancement opportunities (e.g. Fieldwork, trips, competitions etc)
The department organises a range of trips to France
- Normandy trip for Year 8 (during enrichment week)
- Paris trip for KS4
- French exchange with a school in Soissons,Picardie (March/May)
Competitions:
- Spelling Bee – spelling competition
- House competition (end of year)
- National Language competition with GCHQ for Y9
- November KS3 homework support run by our French Captains – one lunchtime a week