Year 7 and 8 French

At Key Stage 3, our goal is to develop and strengthen students’ four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

Students’ progress is monitored through regular assessments, both formative and summative. We also encourage vocabulary and structure tests in order to help and support a secure grounding of the language taught. All linguists have individual access to Active Learn, an online independent platform resource following the French course of Dynamo. 

Year 7

In Year 7, students will follow modules from Dynamo 1. 

In the Autumn/Winter Term, students will complete Module 1: La rentrée – Back to school and routine.  Students will also complete Module 2: En classe where students learn about school subjects, the school day and comparing life in British school to French school. These modules equip students with the ability to pronounce key French sounds and recap saying their name, learning numbers, colours and telling the time from primary education, before building on skills to learn other key aspects of student life. Topics covered in this unit of work include:

• Siblings including brothers, sisters, half siblings and step siblings and associating these with relevant ages
• Describing a classroom and the objects within it
• Opinions on school subjects, animals, sports and foods
• Students describing themselves and others
  Learning how to explain activities and hobbies during the school day and beyond
• School uniform and items of clothing
• The structure of the school day
• Learning about French education culture 

In the Spring Term, students will complete Module 3: Mon temps libre – My free time. In this unit, students will be able to express their interests and hobbies in their free time openly. This unit will involve recapping the weather and the seasons and more key French sounds from primary education, before developing this using more advanced vocabulary and grammar. Topics in this unit of work include:

• Sports and which sports are played in students’ free time
• Other activities that students may do in their free time, including drama, dancing, singing or socialising.
• Discovering sports that are part of French culture
• Developing sentences to build opinions on different sports
• Creating an interview to discover the interests of others

In the summer term, students will complete Module 4: En Ville – In town. In this unit, students will explore the facilities and activities that exist in towns and villages and begin to talk about making plans and going out. Topics covered in these units of work include:

• Places in towns/villages
• Inviting friends out
• Ordering drinks and food in a café
• Talking about plans for special weekend activities

Year 8

In Year 8, students will study a range of modules from Dynamo 1 and 2.

In the Autumn/Winter term, students will complete Module 4: Ma vie de famille – Family life. In this unit, students will explore the structure of their family relationships and what family members they have, including furry family members! Students will also learn about key elements of family life, exploring where they live and family meals. Students will also explore their local area in French, learning key landmarks in a town or village and what there is to do in their neighbourhood. Topics covered in these units of work include:

• Describing family members and family dynamics
• Describing where they live
• Breakfast items and who has breakfast
• Bastille Day

In the Spring Term, students move to studying Modules from Dynamo 2 and will complete Module 1: Vive les vacances! – Holiday life. In this unit, students will be able to express their experiences of going on holiday and the different holiday types that exist. Topics in this unit include:

• Saying what you did during the holidays
• Describing a visit to a theme park
• Saying where you went and how
• Listening for negatives in the perfect tense
• Asking and answering questions

In the summer term, students will complete Module 2: J’adore les fêtes! – I love celebrations and Module 3: Au loisir – At leisure. In these units, students will explore the different celebrations and festivals that students may engage in and what they can do in their free time. Topics covered in these units of work include:

• Describing festivals and special days
• Buying food at the market
• Talking about future trips and celebrations
• Arranging to go to the cinema and types of film

Setting Rationale and Structure

All teaching groups at Key Stage 3 are of mixed ability, there are no sets for this subject.