One of the best things about the A-level French course is its flexibility and relevance.  The sequence of topics can be easily adapted to address and discuss issues that may have been brought to the fore in the worlds of human relationships, the arts, sport, education, religion, the built and natural worlds, to name but a few.

We often approach topics through the lens of a contentious issue to bring the subject to life. For instance, this year we have considered the following questions:

La diversité de la musique francophone contemporaine - comment la protéger ? (How to protect the diversity of contemporary francophone music) 

Quels dangers la « cyber-société » pose-t-elle ? (What are the dangers posed by "cyber-society"?)

Of equal importance is the accumulation of key skills you will need to understand and use your French most effectively.  In the Lower Sixth we therefore focus on skills such as judging tone, reading and listening for gist and detail, expanding and manipulating vocabulary,  analysing figures and trends and constructing a well-supported argument.

We place a strong emphasis on sound grammatical understanding as well as enjoyment of the language itself. By maintaining a strong command of key concepts (passé composé, adjectival agreement etc.) and being exposed to a variety of new ideas, the level of your spoken and written French will begin to soar!

In Upper Sixth, the course continues to be as flexible as possible, whilst ensuring that all topics from the specification are covered by the end of the academic year. Topics continue to be framed in a French-speaking context and in a thought-provoking manner. For example, in 2021 we have evaluated the merits of the following ideas:

Le prison - échec ou succès ? (Prison - a success or a failure?)

Solutions politiques à la question de l'immigration. (Political solutions to the question of immigration.)

Skills are taken to the next level, and we aim for you to develop key competencies in the following areas: organising and summarising information, recognising inference and implicit meaning, using a wide range of sources and real-world examples to support an argument, translation and expressing yourself orally in a confident and spontaneous manner.

French Literature & Cinema

Throughout the Sixth Form course, you will study works from the worlds of French Literature and Cinema. Potential texts include:

Albert Camus L’étranger

Faïza Guène Kiffe kiffe demain

Delphine de Vigan No et moi

La Haine Mathieu Kassovitz (1995)

Un long dimanche de fiançailles Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)

Entre les murs Laurent Cantet (2008)

Individual Research Project

Students also have the opportunity to address a key question which is of interest to them and which relates to a country or countries where French is spoken. 

The aim of the project is to allow students to demonstrate their ability to initiate and conduct individual research by analysing and summarising their findings, in order to present and discuss them in the speaking assessment.

Topics can include:

A historical event or building such as: L’Arc de Triomphe, le massacre du 17 octobre 1961, la prise de la Bastille (14 juillet 1789);

 A person such as Léopold Sédar Senghor, Marie Curie, Jeanne d’Arc, or Louis Pasteur;

 Performers such as Stromae, or Amadou & Mariam;

 An issue such as ‘Les langues minoritaires en France’;

 A phenomenon such as 'La Sape';

 A topic related to a personal interest such as ‘La mode en France’;

 A comparative topic such as ‘La gastronomie en France et en Grande-Bretagne’.