French
All pupils study French from the start of Year 7, placed in either a beginners' set or a non-beginners' set. Those in the beginners' group have one extra lesson of French in the first term in order to help them catch up. Also, depending on the set, some pupils have a lesson or two per week of language acquisition skills.
In Year 8 we offer a trip to France (Le Touquet) which is run at Easter and is always very popular. Pupils in Years 9 and 10 are encouraged to participate in the town exchange with Annecy.
Pupils do not have to continue with French to GCSE; they could choose Spanish, German or Mandarin instead. However, most opt for French and if they do, they will be put in sets according to ability. We follow the OCR GCSE syllabus which requires the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. Most pupils are entered either for Higher Tier, some for Foundation Tier, and some a mixture of the two. Results over the last two years have been very pleasing with a 90% or better A*-C pass rate.
In the A-level, both the AS (in Lower 6th) and the A2 (in Upper 6th) involve the taking of 3 modules: speaking and listening, reading and writing, and Culture and Society which is usually coursework. The latter allows for the study of literary or non-literary topics and texts. Students are encouraged to spend time in France during the course. Students have a weekly conversation class in pairs of threes with the French Language Assistant. Once again, results are pleasing with the majority of students gaining A-C grades.
The picture shows our European Day of Languages - we make it a non-uniform day with a foreign flavour!
