Dear Parents/Carers,
I am pleased to report that the vast majority of Year 7 students have settled well into their modern foreign language lessons. It is great to see so many students enjoying their learning of the French language. I am writing to share with you some resources to support your child and give you an overview of some key areas and links to explain, guide and support you, as we venture forth together at the beginning of the first year of your French learning journey at The Leigh Academy.
Whilst our Year 7s have had different learning experiences during the turbulent times of lockdown learning, please be assured that the KS3 French course aims to build confidence in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation skills, and forming grammatical structures ; independent use of resources is encouraged. The course also focuses on increasing cultural awareness. Support is always available.
Our new cohort of Year 7s have already begun their cultural journey during the Week of Languages on the week of 27th September. Each college had their international breakfast day and they all got the chance to savour a range of culinary dishes.
Curriculum Overview
A key part of learning is enjoyment and challenge, thus our use of the KS3 and school rewards’ systems to encourage participation and enjoyment. These are the topics your child will be studying in French this year:
Module 1 and 2
Family and Pets
Module 3
Home and Town
Module 4
School
Module 5
Hobbies
Module 6
Customs
Year 7s should look at their teacher’s feedback when completing an assessment in order to make further progress during the year. Students can revise at home, independently, to consolidate their learning with homework and by using the websites provided on the next page.
They have already completed their first IB MYP Trust Assessment which enabled them to understand where they currently are on their academic journey at The Leigh.
Homework
Once a fortnight, students must learn 10 words on Quizlet. The link will be provided in advance by the teacher in the Google Classroom.The ‘Test’ option will allow students to check if they can remember the words for the given topic and how accurate their spelling is. Please encourage your child to revise using Quizlet on a regular basis at home. You can support by testing them on their vocabulary on a regular basis. There are two other websites you child can use to support their language learning.
Websites
- Every student has been given a login and a password.
If they lost their login details, they can then ask their teacher for these. - Students can revise past or current topics covered in class by completing:
- Exam skills
- KS3 Revision
- Vocab trainer
- Grammar & Verbs
- Sentence building
- This is both a website and a phone app
- Students can create an account for free
- Duolingo encourages its users to practice the language on a daily basis
- Duolingo is easy to use and challenges all four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
- All activities provide immediate feedback to the user
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact your child’s French teacher or Mr Hurth.
Yours Sincerely,
Thomas Hurth
Acting Director of Learning for MFL
