French

The teaching of French broadly follows the 5‑14 guidelines for Modern Languages but it is not restricted to them and it even goes beyond them in some respects.

Early Years and Year 4

The teaching is informal, requiring oral and aural involvement only, the emphasis being on enjoyment and fun during the weekly lesson when role‑plays, songs, rhymes, videos and games are used alongside traditional methods.Topics covered may include some, or indeed all of the following
questions: name, age, where we live
the alphabet and numbers
parts of the body
clothes, colours
classroom objects
time, days, months, weather
family, animals
Christmas and New Year

Year 5

Much of the above applies still, though pupils are introduced to writing and spelling at this stage. Again, much use is made of songs, games and puzzles during the two weekly lessons. All of the topics covered in the previous years are re‑visited and some learning is required, though there is no formal testing or assessment.

Years 6 and 7

Amore structured, course‑based approach prevails. Our current textbook, OUP's "Equipe", makes use of all the latest language‑teaching techniques, combining oral, listening, reading and writing skills.In addition, other sources are used to supplement lessons or topics as and when required, eg : other textbooks, puzzles, word‑games, songs and rhymes, etc. There is also a built‑in IT element to the course.There are two hours per week in these years.Assessment includes a measure of continuous appraisal of oral work as well as regular tests and exams.During these three years, the following topics are studied in increasing detail:
home life nouns & genders
self, family and friends adjectives and agreement
school and daily routines pronouns
money, shopping and town prepositions and adverbs
sport, leisure and hobbies interrogatives and negatives
festivals, holidays and transport verbs: regulars and common irregulars
food and drink tenses: present, future, imperfect & perfect
time, seasons and weather
days, months and numbers