All students study French
Year 5 - 30 minutes per week
Year 6 - 30 minutes per week
Year7 - 115 minutes per week
Year 8 120 minutes per week
Students are taught by a specialist
teacher who teaches in the respective year area classrooms. Classroom
teachers are encouraged to participate and support the specialist.
Some staff are confident enough to lead their own French sessions
or cover others should the specialist be absent.
The target language is the medium of
instruction and is encouraged at all times for student communication.
Students are introduced at an early stage to vocabulary l phrases
which will help them communicate with teachers and each other.
+ For each unit of work students receive
a unit description and an objectives sheet which they fill in
as they go along. Targets are given I chosen at the start
of each half-term and the teacher marks targets achieved in student's
book.
The teacher keeps an individual progress
sheet for each student as well as photocopies of work and video
and audio-taped evidence of achievement.
The Music I Drama Studio and IT suite
are available for use during some French sessions. Video and still
cameras, an OHP and audio equipment are available at all times
in the Audio-Visual store room. Four networked computers are also
available in all classrooms with two networked computers located
in the French resource room.
Students prepare scenes for video4aping
as a culmination of various units of work e.g. unit 3. Most video
work is done in the classroom as is audio-taping. Each class has
an audio tape which they can use during lessons to record work
which they have practiced. It is planned to introduce individual
cassettes in September 1997.
There is a MFL Resource I storage
room in Year 8. This area is for use by students during lesson
time and breaks I lunches with the permission of the specialist
teacher or the class teacher. CD roms, authentic materials, books
and games are kept in the Resource room. Materials and resources
are purchased with annual capitation. Bids are placed for future
allocations towards the end of the financial year.
Avantage 1 and 2 are used selectively
with students in years 7 and 8. There is one class set of each
book. The Avantage cassette recordings are integrated into each
scheme of work.
Students have an exercise book for French
which is issued at the beginning of Year 7 and Year 8. Books are
collected at the end of Year 7 and are redistributed at the beginning
of Year 8. Students are expected to write in pen and draw in pencil
although some exceptions with regard to the former are made at
the beginning of Year 7. The date and title are always written
in the target language as are most teacher comments. Books are
marked every two weeks and comments recorded.
Work by students is on display in the
Resource area and in the Year areas. Work is also collected and
made into display books which are kept in the resource area and
are used for review and as a stimulus for the following year group.