‘French at Northgate High School isn’t just about learning verbs in a classroom.’

We want French to be an active, enjoyable and rewarding experience. The most motivating thing for our pupils is to use their French to communicate and to be creative, Pupils can take part in exchanges and visits to France. They also use ICT to reinforce their learning and to experience authentic French material. We subscribe to language magazines aimed at teenagers, and encourage them to use dictionaries and reference materials.

In Year 9, two groups start Spanish alongside their French. Some pupils take the FCSE qualification at the end of Year 9. Spanish and French are both popular subjects at GCSE. Results at GCSE are very good. In 2008, one of our pupils scored one of the top ten marks in the country and in Spanish 40% of the class achieved A or A*.

 

Our pupils are keen to use their French for real. In Year 7, they work on a series of projects:

The Francovision Song Contest:

Practise the sounds of the French language and techniques for memorising words by learning and performing a French pop song.

The Gressenhall Farm Stamper Trail in French:

 

Create a French version of the Farm stamper Trail using the French you have been learning to describe people and animals.

The Staff French Cafe:

Be a waiter or waitress, make the teachers speak French and eat snails!

The French Scrapbook:

Develop independent research skills by making a scrapbook all about France.