French

Introduction

The aim of the MFL department is to create confident and competent life-long language learners. We encourage students to apply their linguistic knowledge to understand and communicate confidently and effectively in a variety of situations. We work as a team to deliver stimulating, challenging and enjoyable lessons that are accessible to all students and which enable them to realise their full potential. We also aim to raise awareness of the richness and diversity of other cultures so that pupils encounter different ways of seeing the world, and develop an international outlook.

All boys in Key Stage 3 are entitled to study a modern foreign language, and we encourage boys to continue with either French or Spanish at GCSE level. We aim to develop the practical skills involved in language learning: communication, team-working, inter-personal, problem-solving, and organisation.

At Isleworth & Syon School, we strongly believe that learning a language can be good fun. Furthermore, the ability to communicate in a foreign language is invaluable when applying for universities and jobs. Speaking a foreign language is a vital skill, as 75% of the world’s population does not speak English and 60% of Britain’s trade is with non-English speaking countries. British businesses lose millions every year because they cannot speak their customers’ languages, and universities value MFL qualifications very highly.

Each year, we aim to offer trips to France in order to enable our students to put the language skills they have learned into practice. We also have a range of extra-curricular activities for students to get involved in.

KS3

Summary

All boys at Isleworth & Syon learn either French or Spanish at KS3.

The MFL curriculum is fully differentiated to challenge and support students of all abilities. In Key Stage 3 French, we use the ‘Dynamo’ textbook, NCELP lessons, interactive electronic resources, games and songs to engage students in the language.

Curriculum Content

Year 7

Curriculum

In Year 7 students study the following topics in French:

Autumn 1 – Personal Information (How to describe yourself, your age and birthday)
Autumn 2 – School (school subjects, timetable, uniform, opinions)
Spring 1 – Hobbies (how to say what you do on your phones and computers, sports and opinions)
Spring 2 – Living environment (how to describe where you live, your family and celebrations)
Summer 1 – Holidays (talking about your weekend, your plans, a visit to Paris, ordering in a café)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.

In the speaking assessment students are asked to read out loud to check their pronunciation, and they are then asked questions in French by their teacher based on a picture stimulus card/role-play and they should answer in the target language.

In the listening test, students complete exercises after listening to several extracts in the target language. In the reading test, students complete exercises on texts written in the foreign language, including authentic texts. Finally, students produce a piece of writing on the topic and translate short pieces of language into and out of English.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 7 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course.
BBC Bitesize – excellent resources from the BBC.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.

Year 8

Curriculum

In Year 8, students study the following topics in French:

Autumn 1 – Jobs and celebrations (how to say what job you do and how you celebrate)
Autumn 2 – Free time (what you are doing and what you did)
Spring 1 – A typical day (what your daily routine is like during the week and at weekends)
Spring 2 – Talking about birthdays and how people feel (describing what you do for your birthday and others’ emotions)
Summer 1 – Comparing things and how others do things (making comparisons and using the third person to describe what others do)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies (Francophonie)

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 8 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course.
BBC Bitesize – excellent resources from the BBC.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.

Year 9

Curriculum

In Year 9, students start studying the topics covered in the GCSE specification. The topics are as follows:

Autumn 1 – Free-time activities (students describe their leisure activities and discuss different types of entertainment)
Autumn 2 – Family and home life (students learn how to talk about friends, going out and their relationships with their families)
Spring 1 – School life (students learn how to talk about their favourite subjects, school rules and what it is like to learn a language)
Spring 2 – Healthy lifestyles (students learn how to describe their physical and mental health and how they might change their lives for the better)
Summer 1 – Holidays (students describe their holidays in at least three tenses and what their ideal holiday would be)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking, listening, reading or writing assessment.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 9 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course.
BBC Bitesize – excellent resources from the BBC.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.

KS4

Summary

Students at Isleworth & Syon can choose to carry on studying French at Key Stage 4 level. In GCSE French, we use the Pearson Edexcel textbooks and electronic resources alongside games to engage students in the language.

GCSE French

The Edexcel GCSE specification covers the following themes. Students have already covered 5 modules in Year 9 and carry on in Year 10 and Year 11.

Specification Code: 1FR1 (Year 10) / 1FR0 (Year 11)
Level: GCSE
Examination Board: Edexcel

Curriculum

Year 10

In Year 10, students learn about:

My personal world
Lifestyle and wellbeing
My neighbourhood
Media and technology
Studying and my future
Travel and tourism

Year 11

Year 11 students look at:

Theme 1: Identity and Culture
Theme 2: Local area, Holiday and Travel
Theme 3: School
Theme 4: Future aspirations, study and work
Theme 5: International and global dimension

Assessment

Students are assessed by a terminal examination at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework in this GCSE course. Students will be given mock examinations on a regular basis and will be assessed in at least one of the MFL skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) each half-term.

The examinations are as follows:

Year 10

Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 60 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 15 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 15 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of French to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to French – 1 hour 15 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Year 11

Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 35 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 15 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of French to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to French – 1 hour 10 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week and each weekly task will be available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their curriculum.

EuroNews – a great website to practise your listening skills!
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize – a good resource for practising listening skills.

KS5

Summary

The A level French course is aimed at good linguists who have a real interest in French and French culture. The course is based on current issues and debate and also includes cultural topics.

A level French

Specification Code: 9FR0
Level: A level
Examination Board: Edexcel

Curriculum

Students will study the following topics:

Immigration and the French multicultural society (the positive impact of immigration on French society; answering the challenges of immigration and integration in France; the far right)

Analytical study of the book ‘L’étranger’ by Albert Camus

Analytical study of the French film ‘Les Intouchables’

Assessment

Students will be assessed in the four skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking) each term.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find French resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 12 curriculum.

Le Monde – great to practise reading and getting facts and statistics in view of the written and oral examination.
France Culture – great resource for practising listening skills and keeping up-to-date with French culture (literature, music, arts).
Radio France – great for practising listening skills and keeping up-to-date with French current affairs.
EuroNews – a great website to practise your listening skills!
Vocab Express – essential for learning core vocabulary (your teacher will provide you with a login).
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to French music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.

Extra-Curricular

We organise a number of clubs and trips for our students. These include:

Cine-Club – once a week at lunchtime.

MFL Karaoke Club – once a week at lunchtime.

Trips to the British Film Institute to study French cinema

Visit to a French crêperie

We also offer a number of overseas trips throughout the year:

To the French city of Boulogne

An exchange visit to France linked with a French school.

These visits represent a great opportunity to develop cultural awareness of France, develop confidence and fluency in the language, and increase student motivation.