Curriculum Intent

The intent of the French curriculum at Walton-le-Dale is to develop language learners who have a love of languages, are resilient and independent, are confident speakers of French and have a secure understanding of phonics. They will have a strong awareness of the culture of French-speaking countries and they will have access to the use of authentic materials.  They have a sound understanding of French grammar which includes the ability to apply it in new contexts and the ability to use and understand a range of tenses with confidence.  They are inquisitive linguists, with intellectual curiosity, who ask searching questions and who like to understand how languages are interlinked and who can relate the influence of other languages to the English language.  Pupils are also able to progress to the next stage of their language learning and they are proud of their linguistic achievements.  
 

Programmes of Study

Pupils develop the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing at both Key Stages.

 

Key Stage 3 French

Year 7 

Topics

Culture

Grammar

  • Classroom language for classroom interactions

  • Introductions

  • Phonics

  • Alphabet

  • Spelling

  • Numbers

  • Days

  • Months

  • Birthdays

  • Family

  • Pets

  • Descriptions

  • Likes and dislikes

  • Colours

  • Understanding French verbs

  • Telling the time

  • School subjects School uniform and routines

  • A typical French school

  • Customs, festivals and traditions

  • French-speaking countries

  • Weather

  • Sports and leisure activities

  • Holiday activities

  • Where people live

  • Rooms in a house/apartment

  • Breakfast foods, routines and habits

  • Festivals and celebrations

  • Places in town

  • Inviting someone out

  • Ordering drinks and snacks in a café

  • Detailed descriptions

  • Future plans

  • Likes, dislikes extended into justified opinions

  • Forming and answering questions

  • Learning about key characters in children’s literature in French

  • Developing dictionary skills - traditional and online

French schools

French-speaking countries

French food and drink

French festivals

Currency

Café culture

Paris

French sports and leisure activities

French customs and traditions

French festivals and celebrations

 

 

Cognates

Key verbs

Infinitives

Definite and indefinite articles

Adjectival agreements

Negatives

Simple interrogatives

Prepositions

Connectives

Possessive adjectives

Partitive article

Modal verbs

High-frequency words

Tenses: present, future, past

 

Key Stage 3 French

Year 8

Topics

Culture

Grammar

  • School holidays at home and abroad

  • Past visits and holidays

  • Festivals and Carnivals

  • Food and drink

  • Music Festivals

  • Planning a trip in the future

  • Using the future tense in a range of contexts

  • TV programmes

  • Musical preferences

  • Actors/actresses/cinema

  • Digital technology

  • 24-hour clock

  • Leisure activities

  • Shopping

  • Eating out 

  • Weather

  • Local area

  • Regional leisure and sports activities

  • Household chores

  • Daily routine

  • Comparing town and countryside

  • Sports

  • Asking for directions

  • Healthy lifestyles

  • Parts of the body

  • Illness and injuries

  • Developing and extending justified opinions

  • Further developing dictionary skills

French theme parks

French-speaking holiday destinations

Climate

Food and drink in French-speaking countries

French festivals

French television programmes and cinema

Famous French personalities

French TV/cinema/music

French songs

French-speaking territories

French-speaking athletes

French market traditions

As Year 7 plus:

Key verbs, including regular and irregular verbs

Extended work on formation of tenses

Adjectival agreement with tenses

Comparatives

 

Key Stage 3 French

Year 9

Topics

Culture

Grammar

  • Likes and dislikes

  • After-school clubs and activities

  • Describing yourself and your friends

  • Describing birthday celebrations

  • Describing what you did and what you wore

  • Talking about earning money

  • Talking about what job you want to do and why

  • Talking about what you are going to do in the future

  • Talking about what you did yesterday

  • Talking about different ways of making money

  • Talking about songs and musical instruments

  • Discussing musical preferences

  • Discussing future plans

  • Describing a trip to a concert

  • Talking about food and eating habits

  • Talking about animals 

  • Talking about the 

     natural world

  • Talking about helping 

  • the environment

  • Talking about countries you’d like to visit

  • Describing impressive places

  • Talking about holiday activities

  • Developing and extending justified opinions

  • Further developing dictionary skills

 

French customs and traditions
French schools
Careers with languages
Musical influences
French geography
International tourism
The French job market
French food and drink
 

Consolidation of present, future and perfect tenses
Formation of imperfect tense
Formation of conditional tense
Cognates 
Connectives
Adjectives
Adverbs
Extended sentences
The use of the interrogative
Comparatives and superlatives
 

Key Stage 4 French

Year 10

Topic

 

Culture

Grammar

Theme: Identity and Culture

 

  • Food and Meals
  • Clothes and what to wear
  • Daily routines
  • Shopping for clothes
  • Festivals and traditions
  • Special meals
  • Family celebrations
  • Where you live and what you can do there

 

Theme: Local, national, international and global areas of interest

  • Local Area
  • Tourism
  • Holiday plans and weather
  • Holiday bookings
  • Travel and transport
  • Holiday activities and experiences
  • Eating in a restaurant
  • Holiday disasters

International festivals

Extracts from French literature

French-speaking regions and climate

French transport, holiday destinations and accommodation

French food and drink, including regional specialities

French hobbies and leisure

French film/media stars

International role models

Range of tenses

Regular and irregular verbs

Reflexive verbs

Modal verbs

Negatives

Comparatives and superlatives

Interrogatives

Time frames and time expressions

Comparatives

Direct object pronouns

Formation of higher level opinions

 

Key Stage 4 French

Year 11

Topic

Culture

Grammar

Theme: Local, national, international and global areas of interest

  • Tourism
  • Holiday plans and weather
  • Holiday bookings
  • Travel and transport
  • Holiday activities and experiences
  • Eating in a restaurant
  • Holiday disasters

Theme: Current and future study and employment

  • School subjects and timetable
  • School facilities
  • School rules and regulations
  • Healthy and unhealthy lifestyles
  • School activities
  • Successes at school
  • Jobs and work preferences
  • Career aspirations and personal ambitions
  • Part-time jobs and earning money
  • Work experience

Theme: Local, national, international and global areas of interest

  • What makes you tick
  • Weather and natural disasters
  • Protecting the environment
  • Ethical shopping
  • Volunteering
  • Big events

Full revision programme prior to final examinations.

French-speaking regions and climate

French transport, holiday destinations and accommodation

French food and drink

Schools in France

Health and fitness considerations

Geography

International events

International organisations

Ethical considerations

Fair Trade

Environmental concerns

Global concerns

Range of tenses

Regular and irregular verbs

Reflexive verbs

Modal verbs

Negatives

Comparatives/superlatives

Interrogatives

Time frames and time expressions

Comparatives and superlatives

Direct object pronouns

Formation of higher level opinions

Marking and Internal Assessment

Key Stage 3

The four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are marked using internal assessments.

Key Stage 4

The four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are marked using GCSE marking criteria.

Examinations

Pupils are entered for the AQA GCSE French exam.

Grades 9 to 1 are available.

Examinations are taken at the end of the course.

Pupils may be entered for either foundation or higher tier in all four skills.

Foundation tier of entry: Grades 1 to 5

Higher tier of entry: Grades 4 to 9

Revision Guides/Supporting Resources

CGP GCSE French (AQA) revision guide

Staff Details

Mrs R Holden – Curriculum Leader Modern Languages Department (French and German)

Mrs C Rowson – Teacher of French & Wider Life School Lead

Mrs P New – Teacher of French and German

Careers and Progression

Having knowledge of a foreign language is seen as a bonus in many jobs and a GCSE in a foreign language contributes to the EBacc portfolio of qualifications.  A foreign language is seen as important by many universities, regardless of the subject taken at degree level.  Studying a foreign language leads to employability in education, public services, travel and tourism, journalism, international business, law, management, administration, marketing, publishing, politics amongst others, as well as providing an ideal opportunity for living and working abroad in a number of disciplines.  A good grade at GCSE MFL will be required for access to A-level MFL courses.  Individual colleges will have their own published selection criteria. 
 

Progress Ladders - French