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Modern Languages

French

We concentrate on French as the one Modern Language studied at Lockers and all boys leave with an excellent grounding for GCSE and beyond.

In Year 3 and 4, boys enjoy a wide range of songs and games to develop their accents, confidence and enjoyment of French, as they understand that speaking in a different language is an activity accessible to all. At the same time, they develop basic reading and writing skills, and some simple grammar principles such as gender are introduced at a subliminal level.

Lessons are taught almost entirely in the Target Language and pupils are strongly encouraged to use spoken French themselves at every opportunity. In each topic, the boys are encouraged to extrapolate the meaning and pronunciation of new vocabulary and grammar, and a variety of multi-sensory activities are used to help. By having the pupils elicit information themselves, they will have ‘ownership’ of the new material and will gradually build up the necessary skills and know-how to help them pick up new languages more easily in the future.

Communication is the main aim at the end of the day. Nonetheless, we do recognise that grammar is a vital part of understanding the structure of a language. Each grammatical topic is linked to the target vocabulary. In the early stages, grammar takes a lesser role as we develop their accents and enthusiasm. However, by the time they reach their last year, every pupil will have mastered the past and simple future tenses and have a thorough knowledge of the CE vocabulary. The more advanced will have grammar and vocabulary base appropriate for GCSE and possibly AS level in exceptional cases.

We take a group of boys to Burgundy to a purpose built centre each Summer Holidays for a week of “boys’ own” activities, ranging from kayaking to mosaic making all conducted by the highly qualified resident French staff.

Helping the boys to score highly in their final exams is one part of the goal of the French Department. If they can do this in a relaxing and enjoyable environment, we hope that they will wish to take on further languages at their next schools.