Key Stage 3
All pupils in Y7 study French for two hour-long periods a week. For most this is their first experience of French. Some will have taken part in taster lessons given by the St Thomas More languages teachers either in the primary schools or on a visit to the secondary school.
The course which pupils follow from Y7 is for beginners and is based on National Curriculum requirements. Pupils are taught in their form groups. There is no setting until Y8. Teaching is supported by the text book Avantage 1 and is further enhanced by differentiated homework booklets, songs, games, Thinking Skills activities, videos and magazines for young learners. There is a Languages Club especially for Y7 pupils who are keen to get further involved in fun language learning with opportunities to take part in festivals and competitions.
In Y8 pupils are placed in sets according to the aptitude for language learning they have shown in Y7 in French lessons.
Teaching continues as in Y7 supported by Avantage 1 & 2 with the emphasis on active learning. Pupils are encouraged and rewarded for efforts to speak spontaneously in the foreign language and to experiment with grammar. There are opportunities to use ICT as an aid to language learning.
The majority of Y8 pupils study a foreign language in addition to French. This additional language alternates yearly between German and Spanish. In 2003 pupils studied German. In 2004 pupils will study Spanish. The teaching in German is supported by the text book Gute Reise 1 & 2 and in Spanish by Caminos 1& 2.
By the end of Y9 all pupils have been given the opportunity to achieve National Curriculum levels 1-8. Typically, pupils of French achieve levels 5-7. In the additional language, started later in Y8, pupils typically achieve levels 4-5. This does not put them at a disadvantage for GCSE courses as GCSE results in French, Spanish and German have proved year on year to be equally impressive. Provision is made available for pupils operating at Level 8 (usually pupils from bi-lingual backgrounds) to take the GCSE at the end of Y9.
There is a strong and successful tradition of language learning at St Thomas More High School and pupils are actively encouraged to continue their language studies. We are pleased to be able to offer the choice between studying one or both languages started in KS3 to GCSE, AS and A2 level.
