French

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As a community we have the highest aspirations for all our students, regardless of their background, and are ambitious in the breadth and depth of knowledge we want our students to gain in their subjects.

Our Curriculum has been designed using a Trivium framework encouraging students to Know Well, Think Well and Communicate Well. Students need to develop rich foundational knowledge, be able to think and deepen their understanding through questioning, discussion and debate. Be able to communicate and express their learning in a variety of forms.

As Tom Sherrington states in The Learning Rainforest, “Knowledge is key in a curriculum but so too is the ability to develop capacity to question and challenge, to engage in dialect of the trivium*, to contribute to debate and conversation.”

Thamesview seeks to go beyond a curriculum based on knowledge alone, to a curriculum that builds thought, expression and character.

The Trivium as outlined by Martin Robinson has three parts for students;

Knowledge (AKA Grammar):

Learning involves connecting new information with what is stored in our long-term memory.  Therefore, limited prior learning can limit our future learning.  Development of a rich knowledge base essentially makes us more intelligent by creating more branches for new learning and ideas to connect with.  Without much foundational knowledge of a topic it is difficult for learners to form their own ideas and to work independently.  Teachers have a vital part to play in leading the learning process to ensure that conceptual understanding progressively builds over time.  The curriculum must be coherently constructed and sequenced across subject disciplines to achieve this.   The development of a broad vocabulary is also a key part of this pillar. Thamesview places high importance on every subject area having a coherent and strong approach to successfully improving and strengthening disciplinary literacy within our school. This work is based on the research of the EEF and Alex Quigley.

Elements of Teaching & Learning related to Knowledge:

• Clarity through explanations & modelling 
• Responsive teaching strategies
• Repetition & spaced retrieval practice 
• Regular low level stakes assessment to identify and close gaps & address misconceptions.
• Disciplinary Literacy strategies to secure and cement knowledge for learners.
• Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation.  

Exploration (AKA Dialectic):

Simply knowing things is insufficient. Encouraging our students to think, debate and consider alternative views is a vital part of the education we provide.  Knowing things without the skill to explore knowledge further is of limited value to our students in the wider world. We encourage our students at Thamesview to be respectful of others, to be resilience when learning or when ideas are challenging, to be ambitious for themselves, seeking to take knowledge beyond the just knowing and retaining of facts.

Elements of Teaching and Learning related to Exploration: 

• Real world experience, challenges and experimentation  

• Debate, critical thinking & deep questioning
• Problem solving & reflection
• Character Education
• Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation.  

Communication (AKA Rhetoric):

We want our students to leave Thamesview confident communicators. Explaining ideas publicly strengthens knowledge.  This pillar is not, however, limited to public speaking.  Any performance involves communication, whether it be a Sporting or creative performance, essay, speech or exhibition of work.  These performances help to develop a range of qualities that prepare our learners well for their future lives.  Ensuring all our learners can communicate in a clear, articulate and convincing manner, in a variety of ways, is vital.  

Elements of Teaching & Learning related to Communication:

• Public performance & extended writing   
• Presentations, exhibitions and displays.
• Demonstrating Thamesview Character values.
• Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation.   At Thamesview we aim to build our curriculum around five key principles.

1. A curriculum that has Coherence for students – explaining to them what they are learning and when and why.
2. A curriculum that provides all students with a wide and deep range of Experience(s).
3. A curriculum that equips students with Knowledge and the ability to use it, develop it and be inspired by it.
4. A curriculum that Expands horizons for students.
5. A curriculum that represents all creating a sense of Belonging

French Curriculum Statements

CLICK HERE FOR SCHEMES OF WORK

Y10 Spring Core Knowledge

French conversation questions.pd

Knowledge Map in MFL

Knowledge Map in MFL

French Learning Journey

Assessment Marking and Feedback Policy – French Department

Assessment marking:

Students are assessed separately on the four skill areas as per the GCSE papers for Pearson EDEXCEL. Within the two terms, students will complete: 6^th lesson assessment with a reading, listening, writing and informal speaking assessment. A 1 to 1 speaking assessment is not possible due to the timings of the lessons, but pronunciation will be tested informally by the teacher.

Year 7:

Term 1/3/5 – Students will complete a 6^th lesson assessment in lesson 6 of the topic. At the end of Term 1, a reading and listening assessment will take place in lesson.

Term 2/4/6 – Students will complete a writing assessment based on questions from a GCSE exam questions suitable for the topic studied. An informal speaking assessment will take place at the end of these terms.

*Note: Year 7 Term 1 and 2 assessments are different due to the nature of the topic. Students complete regular 6^th lesson assessments to determined progress. A reading, listening and speaking paper is completed in Term 2 to see an overall picture of the topic of VOCAL.

Year 8:

Term 1/3/5 – Students will complete a 6^th lesson assessment in lesson 6 of the topic. At the end of Term 1, a reading and listening assessment will take place in lesson.

Term 2/4/6 – Students will complete a writing assessment based on questions from a GCSE exam questions suitable for the topic studied. An informal speaking assessment will take place at the end of these terms.

Year 9:

Term 1/3/5 – Students will complete a 6^th lesson assessment in lesson 6 of the topic. At the end of Term 1, a reading and listening assessment will take place in lesson.

Term 2/4/6 – Students will complete a writing assessment based on questions from a GCSE exam questions suitable for the topic studied. An informal speaking assessment will take place at the end of these terms.

Year 10:

Term 1/3/5 – Students will complete a 6^th lesson assessment in lesson 6 of the topic. At the end of Term 1, a reading and listening assessment will take place in lesson.

Term 2/4/6 – Students will complete a writing assessment based on questions from a GCSE exam questions suitable for the topic studied. An informal speaking assessment will take place at the end of these terms.

Note: Year 10 complete a range of question from past papers using all four skills. These past papers are taken from the exam board and incorporated into lesson planning for the academic year.

Year 11:

Term 1: Students complete a higher reading, listening and writing paper throughout the term to test and examine their ability using higher terminology. This paper is for all topics for their GCSE’s

Term 2: Students complete mock exams on all four skills and are given an overall grade as seen in August for their GCSES

Term 3: Students complete a foundation or higher reading, listening and writing paper throughout the term to test and examine their ability. This paper is for all topics for their GCSE’s

Term 4: Students complete mock exams on all four skills and are given an overall grade as seen in August for their GCSES

Term 5: Students have no set assessments during this time as this is the time period for GCSE exams. Although no clear assessment takes place,

Feedback policy – All year groups

Feedback is given as the school policy states of WCF (Whole Class Feedback). Students will have their praises, their misconceptions, and next steps in learning. The feedback is stuck into their exercise books the next lesson, after the assessment has been marked or self-assessed. Students use green pen to write at least 2x What went well’s WWW and 2x EBI ( even better if). This is related to vocabulary and styles of questions.

Misconceptions in vocabulary are embedded into their starters each lesson to ensure knowledge of key terms and phrases.

Rational for Assessments KS3:

Term 1 and 2 Grade boundaries for Year 7

Year 7:

Term 3 and 4 Grade boundaries for Year 7

Grade Boundaries KS3 ( including year 7 Term 5 and 6)

Grade Boundaries Year 10 Term 1 and 2

Grade Boundaries Year 10 Term 3 and 4

Term 3 and 4 Rational for Marks:

Year 7:

Year 7’s topic is Verbs, which categories into a different Scheme of work in comparison to other Year groups. The rationale behind the assessment for learning is for students to accurately identify different common (regular and irregular) verbs in different tenses, using the past, present and the future tense. The paper does not follow marks /50 due to the nature of the topic. Therefore, the paper has been analysed on standard of practice in the classroom on if a student is: below/working towards/at/above target based on question-by-question responses. For example, if a question is out of /4 marks. 1 mark = below/ 2 marks = working at / 3 marks =at / 4 marks = above. This is assessed for reading, listening and writing during the span of two terms.

Year 8:

Year 8’s topic is Food and Drink, which links closely with GCSE Pearson specification of GCSE grade boundaries for 2023 (the latest boundaries for this exam board.) From this, grade boundaries are edited accordingly due to the assessment being topic based rather than a mixture of topics that are included. The adaptations result in lower marks being awarded between 1-7 marks above the given boundary due to the topic based selection.

Reading: Some GCSE exam style questions for foundation tier are embedded into the assessment, alongside a translation at the end of the paper as per GCSEs at the current moment. Other questions are in a similar format of GCSE style questions, but adapted due to the year group.

Listening: Listening assessment are done through teacher’s voice rather than audios. The rationale behind this is for students to be comfortable listening to their regular teacher in French, rather than an accented audio. Other questions are in a similar format of GCSE style questions, but adapted due to the year group.

*Writing: Styled papers are given to students as per the GCSE criteria for a foundation paper: photo card/ writing a passage / translation. Students are given freedom to write about the topic studied for the passage rather than bullet points, to allow students to show off their skills with barriers in learning due to French phrases learnt or not suitable for the topic.

Speaking: Informal speaking assessments are conducted within the department but not formalised as an assessment. Students have the option to speak every lesson in French. A photo card is used for students to prepare how to answer a photo card (and develop skills from writing element of work) and speak these to their partner in lesson. Creating formal speaking assessments is currently a department focus. 

Year 9:

Year 9’s topic is House town and region, which links closely with GCSE Pearson specification of GCSE grade boundaries for 2023 (the latest boundaries for this exam board.) From this, grade boundaries are edited accordingly due to the assessment being topic based rather than a mixture of topics that are included. The adaptations result in lower marks being awarded between 1-7 marks above the given boundary due to the topic based selection.

Reading: Some GCSE exam style questions for foundation tier are embedded into the assessment, alongside a translation at the end of the paper as per GCSEs at the current moment. Other questions are in a similar format of GCSE style questions, but adapted due to the year group.

Listening: Listening assessment are done through teacher’s voice rather than audios. The rationale behind this is for students to be comfortable listening to their regular teacher in French, rather than an accented audio. Other questions are in a similar format of GCSE style questions, but adapted due to the year group.

*Writing: Styled papers are given to students as per the GCSE criteria for a foundation paper: photo card/ writing a passage / translation. Students are given freedom to write about the topic studied for the passage rather than bullet points, to allow students to show off their skills with barriers in learning due to French phrases learnt or not suitable for the topic.

Speaking: Informal speaking assessments are conducted within the department but not formalised as an assessment. Students have the option to speak every lesson in French. A photo card is used for students to prepare how to answer a photo card ( and develop skills from writing element of work) and speak these to their partner in lesson. Creating formal speaking assessments is currently a department focus. 

Year 10:

Year 10’s topic is Future and the world of work which links closely with GCSE Pearson specification of GCSE grade boundaries for 2023 (the latest boundaries for this exam board.) From this, grade boundaries are edited accordingly due to some of the assessment being topic based rather than a mixture of topics that are included. The adaptations result in lower marks being awarded between 1-7 marks above the given boundary due to the topic based selection.

Reading: Extracts taken from past GCSE style questions and create their own assessment following the current topic and previous topic in term 1 and 2 of School.

Listening: Listening assessment are done through an audio which is a past paper with different topics. The rationale behind this is for students to have as much exposure to an audio as per their GCSE exams. Due to this being a wide range of topics (most studied in year 9), the grade boundaries are adjusted accordingly due to awareness that non-topic-based questions will prove difficult for the students. We decided on a whole listening paper to improve students focus during listening exercise.

*Writing: Styled papers are given to students as per the GCSE criteria for a foundation paper: photo card/ writing a passage / translation. Students are given past papers from the topics of school (term 1 and 2) and the current topic to answer questions within the paper. They also have bullet points in French as per the GCSE exam to ensure they match the bullet points and answer these as accurately as possible.

Speaking: Informal speaking assessments are conducted within the department but not formalised as an assessment. Students have the option to speak every lesson in French. A photo card is used for students to prepare how to answer a photo card (and develop skills from writing element of work) and speak these to their partner in lesson. Creating formal speaking assessments is currently a department focus.

*Note:  Writing papers are marked through GCSE style marking: 12 marks for communication and content and 8 marks for accuracy and grammar.