French - Year 7
How and when will I study French?
Students starting their secondary education should ordinarily have studied a language regularly in the primary phase and therefore have created a good foundation on which to build their language skills. Those already at The Gatwick School will have done mainly Spanish, whilst those joining us from other schools may well have done French. A minority may have done another language entirely or even very little or no language. For this reason, we split the Modern Foreign Languages allocation of 5 hours of lessons per fortnight and share this time equally between French and Spanish, so that everyone gets to try everything. In practical terms, this means one half term there are 3 hours of French and 2 hours of Spanish per fortnight and the other way around in the second half of the term.
Both languages are taught through electronic media based on engaging and authentic material, including great video clips and real French text. It is supplemented by Scaffolding for Productive Language, which is bespoke, editable content enlivened by great images, and our colourful and imaginative content is uploaded to Google Classroom daily, so that students can review it at home. If you don't have it already, we strongly encourage downloading Google Classroom on mobile phones or other devices you may have. The Gatwick School also subscribes to Linguascope for great interactive activities. Click on the fish icon above. Login details for students are available from MFL staff.
Un coup d'œil aux bases - a glance at the basics
Greetings, colours & shapes
Day & date, numbers to 100
Physical & character description
Your family pets & animals
Where you live
Inside your home & bedroom
Parts of the body & ailments
Celebration
This theme is studied from September to February.
What else should I know?
Previous knowledge of French is helpful but not necessary, as we go back and do all the basics again but using different material than in the primary phase.
You will do your work in an eeBook (electronic evidence book) rather than a traditional exercise book. This is permanently shared with your teacher who will review it and make comments electronically as applicable. You will have one eeBook for classwork and another one for grammar notes.
You will need to be prepared to write reflections on your progress when asked to by your teacher.
The use of Google Translate and other translation packages and AI is not allowed in lessons. This is because you are here to actually learn the language, not to let software do the work for you.
Miam ! - Yum!
Breakfast in France, the UK and around the world
Selling fruit
Patisserie
Crêpes
Sweet and savoury
The best dates in Algeria
Smoothies galore !
A medley of vegetables
Organic products
International cuisine
Typical French dishes
This theme is studied from February to July.
Chez Mimi -Mimi's place
Get to know Madame Mimi, the cantankerous concierge in an extraordinary apartment block in a typical French town.
Meet the other residents of the block and their visitors and some of the farcical goings on in this children's series.
Learn about family, friends, animals and, of course, eating and who is Mme Mimi's secret admirer?
This theme is studied periodically throughout the year.
Homework
You will definitely need to do some homework each week in order to ensure your success at language learning. This will be one or more of the following.
Learn a new Personal Response Question
Consolidate new vocabulary from a specified vocabulary list or use The Gatwick School Linguascope account, a great way to learn interactively.
Review a grammar note so you come to learn how the language works.
Review lesson slide(s) uploaded on Google Classroom
Complete any activity you were unable to finish in class or for which you were absent
How will I be assessed?
You will always get plenty of feedback from your teacher as you go along.
Listening and reading are student-assessed with guidance in class, whereas as developmental advice on speaking and writing is by the teacher.
You will be expected to be able to reproduce your Personal Responses Questions informally in lessons class at this stage.
eChallenges
These assessments are entirely online on a locked, school-managed Chromebook and consist of up to 20 bespoke multiple choice questions, with 5 answers to choose from, and a good level of challenge for all.
The stimulus can involve both reading and listening,
as well as vocabulary in a context.
There will be 4 of these eChallenges throughout the year in French.
Beside the eChallenges, you should expect eVocab tests a few times per term. These are very quick to do but will give you and your teacher a good indication of how well you are taking in new vocabulary.