French

French at KS3

At Babington we have developed a KS3 curriculum in French to reflect the structure of the new GCSE as well as the high aspirations that we have of our students.

Students begin year 7 immersed in the Francophone world, with exposure to authentic resources from France and Canada, which they study in their first module: Les Stars de YouTube. Students are encouraged to develop their spontaneous speaking ability and become confident language users.

By the end of KS3, we expect students to have the skills, knowledge and understanding to not only be successful at GCSE, but to be successful in a world full of language. We believe our KS3 curriculum will provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping students to study and work in other countries. It is also our goal that all students, whether they pursue further languages study or not, develop a love and curiosity for languages.

Students are set fortnightly homework in French. This is always purposeful and allows students to consolidate their recent learning or explore their learning in a student-focused and meaningful manner. Homework club is available twice a week for KS3 students.

GCSE French

At Babington, we believe that studying languages is an important part of your child’s education and understand the value that studying languages to GCSE can have on your child’s development, both academically and personally.

We offer the AQA specification for GCSE French as we trust that it offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their language ability in a realistic and challenging format.

At Babington, we believe that students studying a language at GCSE should have the opportunity to develop their language skills in a real life situation. We currently take year 9 to Paris in March. This year we will be taking year 10 on our first French exchange to a school on the Belgium border. We also offer conferences through Keynote as well as language and engineering days out with the RAF. 

Students are set weekly homework in French, which is purposeful and based upon the needs of your child. KS4 students are encouraged to develop their listening skills at home, for which they are provided listening logs, with access to a multitude of exciting and engaging authentic resources, as well as access to thisislanguage.com. 

Extra-curricular opportunities

Year 9 and 10 students are given the opportunity to be Language Ambassadors. The role of these students is to support the French team in promoting a love and curiosity around languages, within the school and wider community. Their job role includes running homework club for KS3, talking positively about languages, preparing learning materials for lessons, promoting languages within the school and local primary schools, organising language events and supporting on trips and visits to universities.