French
Head of Department – Miss A Roberts
Overview
Torquay Boys’ Grammar School offers students the opportunity to study French language and culture from French-speaking countries. French is taught in a vibrant department with a very dedicated and enthusiastic team of teachers. The French department seeks to guide students to become internationally-minded, confident learners with a sense of curiosity and a sense of responsibility as a human being within their family, their school, their local community but also their wider global environment.
More than 220 million people speak French on all the five continents. French is a major language of international communication. It is the second most widely learned language after English and the sixth most widely spoken language in the world.
Learning French is entering a new world that will allow you to learn you who you are and who you can be!
Programme of Study
Our core aims are to develop independent and enquiring language learners. Through their lessons, students will learn to communicate effectively in French, as well as engage with the cultural aspects of the Francophone world. Students are will be able to experience dynamic lessons, focussing on building their competence in the four skills of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing, as well as resources which inform them of the culture in various French-speaking countries around the world. They will have many opportunities to practise and improve their competency in the language, and will be actively encouraged to draw links between their other languages they speak.
GCSE
Examination Board: AQA
In year 10, students begin the 2-year Higher GCSE course in French, consolidating their learning and expanding on their ability to express themselves fluently. Students are assessed in four skills throughout the GCSE course, through regular tests in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, as well as Translation. They are given regular assessments in Listening and Reading using both past papers and GCSE-style tests and can assess their progress according to how well they do. Throughout years 10 and 11 we do preparatory work for the GCSE Speaking and Writing examinations. Grammatical accuracy, now a key element of the GCSE, will be essential to making good progress.
In year 11, students complete the course to GCSE in French. We continue using the Studio Higher textbook.
Students continue to do regular Listening and Reading assessments using past GCSE papers at both foundation and higher level. Mock examinations (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) take place at the end of year 10. Each exam is 25% of the whole GCSE. Students can be entered at Higher or Foundation level. Further mock exams in November of year 11 are used to generate the student’s predicted grade. There is more emphasis on grammatical accuracy at GCSE which will give students a very good base should they decide to continue with their study of French at IB (International Baccalaureate) in the Sixth Form.
Sixth Form – IB
At key stage 5, students can study French through the IB at Ab initio, Standard or Higher Level. We use a wide range of resources to offer students an exciting and interesting experience developing their language skills through this holistic syllabus.
The course covers the themes of Identities, Experiences, Human Ingenuity, Social Organisation and Sharing the Planet.
All assessment happens in the second year of the course, with Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing all being assessed and all weighted equally at 25% each.
Extra-Curricular Opportunities
French society: weekly lunch time club led by teachers and sixth form, offering homework support, opportunities to learn further and have some fun with French. It’s also a time dedicated to re-learn vocabulary and do a piece homework that is missing or not understood, or test retakes.
Institut Français: yearly competition often involving creative skills. A fun way to practise your French and show off what you can do. A year 9 group won an award for a French music video they entered to the competition in 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–E36z–8AI&feature=youtu.be
Year 10 G&T and Year 12 Languages Day: with sessions and talks run by Oxford University.
International Food Market: where students have the opportunity to taste different foods from French cuisine and for sixth form, the opportunity to organise and contribute to this event.
Cooking and food tasting sessions students in small groups learn to cook some dishes from French Speaking culture. We organise a yearly RACLETTE with Alumni every Christmas as well as crêpes making workshops.
Year 10-13 students are offered a trip to Brittany where students do a one-week work experience in a Primary school. Students get the opportunity to have a work experience as well as improve greatly their French language and culture as well as their speaking skills. This does not only make them become more confident as a French speaker, but it also makes them become a more confident teenager through the experience of teaching younger French pupils. Students get a real taste of French culture as they live in a French family and work in a French school. An opportunity of a lifetime!
Future Careers
Taking French in the Sixth Form will take students to a high level of competence and fluency, opening doors to an extremely valuable world of professional, social, cultural and personal opportunities. Indeed, careers in French on their own are as varied as working as an interpreter for the EU, translating documents for big companies who have interests abroad, travelling with politicians, and even teachers… Or you could combine French with any other subject, and join an international organisation doing something you are interested in, but based in another country or working for a British company who have contacts with manufacturers abroad. Engineering with French, Law with French, History with French, Sciences with French; or if you are a keen skier or snowboarder, why not do seasons in the Alps?
Your ability to speak both French and English will be an advantage for finding a job with the many multinational companies using French as their working language, in a wide range of sectors (retail, automotive, luxury goods, aeronautics, etc.). France, as the world’s fifth largest economy, attracts entrepreneurs, researchers and the cream of foreign students. French is also both a working language and an official language of the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross and international courts. Proficiency in French is essential for anyone considering a career in any international organisation.
Taking French all the way to IB could also be your chance to carry on your studies abroad. Speaking French opens up opportunities for higher education at some of France’s best-known universities (the Sorbonne, Pierre Marie Curie University) or elite grandes écoles (HEC, Polytechnique, ESSEC), often on very favourable financial terms. Students with a good level of French may be eligible to apply for a French government grant to enrol on a postgraduate course of their choice in France, leading to an internationally recognised postgraduate degree; a great incentive to carry French at IB level.
