Dates for your Diary

French

Intent

Studying a language at Barnwell means opening minds and doorways to the wider world.
Our MFL building provides a vibrant and interactive learning space for students to develop an appreciation of diversity in other cultures and languages and foster a life-long love of language learning through a broad and structured curriculum, educational trips and cultural activities.
At Barnwell we aim to enable students to:

Develop effective communication skills
Use problem solving skills when coping with the “unknown”
Improve confidence as individuals
Build key, transferable skills useful to the workplace, further study and leisure opportunities
Be able to compete in local, national and global job markets

Our KS3 curriculum is based on building a solid foundation of phonics, vocabulary and grammar for every child who studies Spanish. We use the AQA KS3 Scheme of Learning to underpin our teaching of content and combine this with Active Learn online resources. This progresses in to our AQA GCSE course in KS4 for students selecting French as an option.

Learning Journey

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Curriculum Map

KS3 Subject: French	Y7 Content	Y7 Key Assessment	Y8 Content	Y8 Key Assessment	Y9 Content	Y9 Key Assessment
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Introduction to French: Identity & Relationships	Personal Information- name, age, where you live, birthdays, siblings Simple sentence building Understanding questions and providing answers in full sentences Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 1: Education & School	Describing your school and school life – including the school day, routine and activities. Giving opinions and talking about future plans Telling the time Adverbs of sequence Extended opinions with connectives Near future tense Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 1: Customs, Festivals & Celebrations	Developing a more extensive cultural knowledge of festivals and customs in France and French speaking countries. Understanding detailed description of events. Talking about past events and saying what we are looking forward to Selected phonics Summative Assessment
Autumn 2	Unit 2: Opinions & Cognates	Family, pets, colours, favourite things, simple opinions and reasons Basic grammatical concepts Common nouns and adjectives Question forms More detailed sentence building Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 2: Technology	Discussing mobile technology, computers, other devices and social media Understanding how to create arguments for and against and give reasons Introduction of past tense Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 2: Environment	Discussing environmental problems locally and globally. Formulating sentences, saying what we can do to protect the environment. Modal verbs Conditional tense Selected phonics Summative Assessment
Spring 1	Unit 3: Extended Descriptions	Describing appearance and personality Using connectives to expand sentences Adjective endings Recognising parts of speech Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 3: Media- film, tv and books	Giving opinions about tv programmes, films, types of music and books. Understanding basic descriptions of plots and characters. Recognition and use of past tense. Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 3: Work & Future Plans	Expressing future intentions, including Post 16 educational choices, ideal jobs and aspirations. Future Tense Conditional Tense Selected phonics Summative Assessment
Spring 2	Unit 4: Free Time Activities	Leisure Activities and hobbies Present tense of common verbs linked to topic Words of frequency and time phrases Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 4: Celebrity Culture	Understanding descriptions, articles and broadcasts about famous people and influencers. Developing reading and listening strategies. Extending descriptive skills Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 4: Healthy Living	Expanding food and drink vocabulary and examining food groups. Expressing attitudes to health and fitness. Modal verbs Combine tenses- past, present, future, conditional. Selected phonics Summative Assessment
Summer 1	Unit 5: Where People Live	Describing your home and local area Reading strategies Using prepositions Describing what there is/ is not Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 5: Travel & Tourism	Discussing holiday options, destinations, locations, transport, weather, activities and accommodation. Combining tenses – past, present and future. Selected phonics Summative Assessment	Unit 5: Understanding a film and writing a review	Researching the background and setting of a film. Watching and understanding a film in French and review it, describing the main theme, characters and plot. Combining all tenses. Selected phonics Summative Assessment
Summer 2	Unit 6: Consolidation of Year 7	Review and retrieval of key phonics, vocabulary and grammar in Units 1-5	Unit 6: Consolidation of Year 8	Review and retrieval of key phonics, vocabulary and grammar in Units 1-5	Unit 6: Consolidation of Year 9	Review and retrieval of key phonics, vocabulary and grammar in Units 1-5

KS4 Course: French	Y10 Content	Y10 Key Assessment	Y11 Content	Y11 Key Assessment
Autumn 1	Identity and Relationships	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions.	Environment and where we live.	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions
Autumn 2	Healthy Living	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions.	Travel and Tourism. Places of interest.	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions
Spring 1	Education and Work	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions.	Revision Lessons January Mock Exams and Feedback	January mock exams using past GCSE papers for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
Spring 2	Free Time Activities, Media and Technology	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions.	Speaking Exam preparation lessons. Unit revision lessons
Summer 1	Celebrity Culture, Customs and Festivals	Students assessed in all 4 skill areas of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, using GCSE style questions.	GCSE Speaking Exams Revision Lessons GCSE Listening/ Reading and Writing Exam period.	GCSE Exam period.
Summer 2	Review and Retrieval Lessons Year 10 Exam preparation	Past GCSE exam Papers All 4 skills areas.

GCSE French has a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series.

Summary of Assessment1: Speaking

Oral test: 7-9 minutes (Foundation tier)

Skill Assessed	Weighting	Task	Duration	Marks
Unit 1: Listening	25%	Section A – questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally Section B – questions in French, to be answered in French or non-verbally No dictionaries.	35 mins (F) 45 mins (H)	40 Marks (F) 50 Marks (H)

Unit 2: Speaking	25%	Role Play Photo card discussion Conversation No dictionaries.	12 mins preparation 7-9 mins (F) 10-12 mins (H)	60 marks

Unit 3: Reading	25%	Reading tasks with non-verbal and written responses, including one translation task from French into English No dictionaries.	45 Mins (F) 60 Mins (H)	60 marks

Unit 4: Writing	25%	3-4 Writing tasks including one translation task from English into French No dictionaries.	1 hr (F) 1 hr 15 (H)	50 marks (F) 60 Marks (H)

GCSE French

Head of Department/Faculty: Mrs S Casey

Email: S.Casey@barnwell.herts.sch.uk

The GCSE French course aims to develop students’ ability to understand spoken and written language in a range of contexts. It will enable students to communicate in French using a range of vocabulary and develop their understanding of French grammar. Students will improve their key skills, e.g. communication, working with others, problem-solving and improve their own learning and confidence. By the end of the course, students will be able to communicate effectively in a variety of everyday situations required for a visit to a French speaking country. Students will have a sound base for further study, work and leisure.

What does the course involve?

Students will study all of the following themes on which the assessments will be based:
Theme 1: Identity and Culture (family, relationships, freetime activities and technology)

Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest (home, town, environment, travel and tourism)
Theme 3: Current and future study and employment

Students will:

Listen to recordings of French speakers
Understand and cope with a wider range of vocabulary, including some unfamiliar language

Understand and discuss issues and opinions
Be able to understand authentic French materials such as hotel brochures, travel information, e-mails and short literary based texts
Write descriptions, accounts and narratives
Develop translation skills

How will I be assessed?

Students are assessed in the four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing. These are tiered as Foundation (Grades 1-5) and Higher (Grades 4-9).

Students must take all 4 skills at the same tier (either Foundation OR Higher) and each component is worth 25% of the final GCSE grade.

Paper 1 Listening Exam - 35 minutes (Foundation) or 45 minutes (Higher)
Paper 2 Speaking Assessment - 7-9 minutes (Foundation) or 10-12 minutes (Higher)
Paper 3 Reading Exam - 45 minutes (Foundation) or 60 minutes (Higher)

Paper 4 Writing Exam - 60 minutes (Foundation) or 75 minutes (Higher)

What are my progression routes?

A foreign language can give you a skill for life which could be relevant in any number of professions. An increasing number of Universities are expecting students to have a GCSE in languages to follow degree courses. In order to give you the maximum opportunities Post-16 or in employment, you are advised that knowledge of a modern foreign language is very highly regarded.

Useful Resources