Year 7 French

Brief summary of the syllabus:

Work will focus on the four National Curriculum assessment objectives of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The scheme of work is based on the textbook Expo 1 and an extended variety of exercises will be set from this text as well as from other materials, chosen to enhance the learning of the year group. Grammatical rules and written accuracy are emphasised from the beginning of the course as well as encouragement to speak the language as much as possible within the classroom. We aim for all students to have an enjoyable and stimulating language learning experience. Progress is measured throughout the year by regular vocabulary tests, written homework and half-term tests.

Which skills and attributes are being developed and examined?

Pupils will be taught to employ the following skills to facilitate their learning of French and their learning of other languages in the future:

Listening

• Listening for key common words and phrases to enable comprehension of a spoken text.
• Extracting relevant information from a longer text. The ability to understand spoken French.

Speaking

• Answering key common questions in French with accurate pronunciation and intonation.
• Presenting and listening to peers in group work and evaluating performance.
• Using role plays and drama to facilitate learning.

Reading

• Adopting different reading strategies to read for gist or detail in texts of a variety of length in French.
• Ways to infer and deduce meaning in the text from aids such as pictures, the titles, (near-)cognates, word families and high frequency, cross topic vocabulary.

Writing

• Strategies for learning new vocabulary.
• Develop an ability to write a fluent piece on a known topic and include complex structures.
• Planning, drafting, redrafting and correcting a written piece to improve it.
• Understand the grammatical rules and use sources to practise and improve use of new structures.
• Use the text book and bi-lingual dictionary effectively to further independent learning. 

What can parents expect to see in classwork and homework specifically?

For new learners of the language the initial phase concentrates heavily on short exercises practising the four key skills. The written work will largely be copying of work presented by the teacher and homework will be learning vocabulary and using classwork to write simple pieces of French.

Those with prior experience of French will be encouraged to review their knowledge, to ensure it is accurate, as well as build on it with extended exercises.

Homework will alternate between learning of vocabulary and written tasks, which will increase in length as the year progresses.

What parents can do to help in this subject at this stage?

• Purchase a small bi-lingual dictionary, designed for school age students of French, for your son to use at home. The department has dictionaries for use within school.
• Parents are encouraged to take an active role in helping their son learn vocabulary, even if they don’t know French. It is possible to check for correct spelling (including accents). Encourage the use of the “Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check” method for learning vocabulary and the regular revision of words covered in lessons.
• Insist on good presentation and thorough checking of homework once complete. This should be done by referring to the relevant pages in the text book, recent class work and a dictionary, if necessary.
• Encourage your son to use the learning resources network for extra language practice.

Setting and course schedule:

In the first weeks of the Autumn Term Year 7 boys will be taught in their form groups. Setting will take place early in the Autumn Term according to baseline test results and teacher assessment. Subsequent setting will take place at Christmas, Easter and at the end of the year.

• Autumn first half-term: Module 1
• Autumn second half-term: Module 2
• Spring first half-term: Module 3
• Spring second half-term: Module 4
• Summer first half-term: Module 5
• Summer second half-term: Module 6

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Tests:

At the end of each half-term boys are tested on what has been covered during the course of the half term. The end of year test examines all four skills, other tests focus on one or two skills only and boys will be given dates and information about these tests in advance.

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Working towards Target National Curriculum Levels:

In the Autumn term, each pupil and his parents will be made aware of a target National Curriculum Level which he should be aiming to achieve by the end of the academic year. Progress towards this target will be reviewed at the end of each half-term and in the mid-year review of pupil progress, which is reported home in the Spring term. The criteria for each National Curriculum Level in French can be read here.

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