French

Studying French in the Sixth Form is extremely rewarding. Students can combine French with a wide variety of subjects and will explore Francophone culture and its rich language through a range of topics and sources.

French can add to the overall profile of a student and French can improve students’ chances of getting onto a good university course and later into an interesting career. Over the last few years many KES students have gone on to study French at university or to combine French with an additional subject, ranging from business and economics to management and law. French classes are relatively small with about ten students, allowing for considerable individual attention and a great deal of lively interaction. Each class has a team of teachers and each individual student has a 25 minute lesson with one of our two French assistants every week. There are numerous AQA specification We follow the A Level AQA specification and students take the A Level examination at the end of the Upper Sixth. The two main areas of study are; social issues and trends and political, intellectual and artistic culture. These are divided into sub themes for A Level. In addition, literary texts and French films are studied and there is a requirement to research an area of personal interest related to the country / communities where French is spoken. At the end of the course there will be three papers which will opportunities available to develop linguistic skills, be it in lunchtime workshops, borrowing a French DVD or book, or by taking part in the Sixth Form trip to France in April. The French Department is a lively and welcoming place to be and the French teachers are dedicated and positive in their approach to students, offering their time generously. The language facilities are outstanding. The classrooms have interactive whiteboards and there is a multi-media centre where students can practise and develop their oral and aural skills. Students work with their own iPads or laptops and use these in lessons to have access to their digital courses for test a wide range of skills; summary skills in response to spoken and written French, essays on a film and text, reading comprehensions, translations from English into French and from French to English and a speaking examination where students will need to talk about the themes they have studied as well as their individual research project. The course is varied and extremely stimulating and students will leave KES as linguists of the highest calibre. years 1 and 2 and a wide range of additional information and resources to help support their studies. Students are encouraged to keep up to date with what is going on in the French-speaking world and all Sixth Form students receive the French magazine Chez Nous five

times a year.