OVERVIEW – FRENCH
Overview – FRENCH
“An A-Z to discovering the French-speaking world:Aventure, Beauté, Culture!”
Members of Department:
Ms B Fahy (Head of Department)
Mrs M Malone
Mrs K Fegan
Miss C Cumiskey
BIENVENUE!
We are a department which helps students flourish and enjoy learning French. At Loreto, you will study both the fascinating linguistic and rich cultural aspects of this global language.
We are committed to making language learning relevant and interactive, and so we use a variety of ICT tools, such as Quizlet and Kahoot.
We hope you enjoy your visit.
NEWS
We care about our global community. Recently we donated 200 textbooks to the charity Books2Africa to help resource schools in different countries in Africa.
Our new department logo (top of page) is the winning submission in the recent competition we organised. Well done to all the pupils who entered, especially the winner, Eva Conway.
WHY STUDY FRENCH?
It’s fun!
Learning French is exciting and varied. It is also incredibly satisfying to be able to communicate in another language. Who knows the people you will get to know in the future if you invest in French now!
Global standing
French is the second most widely learned foreign language after English, and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world.
An eye opener
Learning French will help you see the world from another point of view and broaden your horizons.
A passport for travel and study
France is the world’s most popular tourist destination. Even speaking basic French will open up a whole new world when you visit, perhaps you’ll come along with us on a school trip!
WHEN CAN I STUDY FRENCH AT LORETO?
Students at Loreto enjoy learning French from Year 8 to Year 10, and they can choose to continue studying at GCSE and A Level.
FRENCH AT KEY STAGE 3 (YEARS 8-10)
At Loreto, all Year 8 have two periods of French per week. Currently Year 9 pupils enjoy four weekly periods of French, giving them the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding.In Year 10, class contact time is two periods of French a week.
The topics studied in KS3 develop pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding in the four components of any language: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
By the end of Key Stage 3 the aim is to have explored many of the topic areas which feature in the GCSE course. Pupils are given a rigorous foundation in key grammatical concepts so that they are able to make a confident start to GCSE and are able to fulfil their potential by building on their knowledge from Key Stage 3.
Topics are varied and cover a wide range of areas, including :
- Information about myself and my family
- Where I live
- Food and drink
- School life
- Free time activities
- Celebrations and festivals
FRENCH AT KEY STAGE 4 (YEARS 11 & 12)
Go back to GCSE MODERN LANGUAGES for an outline of the GCSE course.
The French department uses the Pearson Studio GCSE course as well as many other high quality resources to deliver a course that is engaging, enjoyable and rigorous. Pupils will enjoy developing their language skills in all four areas; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and gain confidence to do their best when they sit the GCSE examinations at the end of Year 12.
FRENCH AT KEY STAGE 5 (YEARS 13 & 14)
Go back to A LEVEL FRENCH for an outline of the A level course.
The course is relevant and is designed to get students talking in depth in ‘la langue de Molière’. At AS level, students explore many topics within the broad areas of: Relationships, and Culture and Lifestyle. At A2, the areas focused on are: Young People in Society, and Our Place in a Changing World. We seek to instil in pupils a real interest in French in their everyday life, and a love for watching French TV, reading French novels, or following French Twitter accounts helps our French students excel in their studies.
