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French
French is compulsory in Year 9 and may be taken as an option in Years 10 and 11.
Year 9 pupils have two lessons of French per week; and this is increased to six lessons per week for those following a GCSE course, both the Short Course and Full Course GCSE are studied depending on the ability of the pupil. There will be an opportunity to study French at Shapwick Prep as an after school club. French can also be taken at AS or A2 level by more able pupils.
In French lessons for Years 7 to 9 the emphasis is on listening and speaking, with very structured written tasks. Reading skills are developed by concentrating on and underlining key words thus limiting the amount of vocabulary needed. This has the added benefit of increasing pupil’s confidence in their reading skills which is often lacking in dyslexics. Writing skills are developed using copy-writing and gap-filling. A dyslexic that can spell in French is a very rare creature so pupils adapt previously read texts to write their own sentences or paragraphs. Simple dictionaries are also used.
Between 2003 and 2008 over 87% of those pupils entering the Full Course gained a grade C or above.
Year 9 pupils also have the opportunity to gain external accreditation as the majority are entered for an Asset Languages Assessment in listening and reading at Grade 3. A pass at this level is equivalent to an Entry Level pass. In 2008 over 70% of pupils gained a pass at Grade 3 in their reading assessment.
The Year 10 and 11 pupils help sponsor a child in Guinea, West Africa. Letters are sent regularly from the pupils, written in French, giving information about themselves and letters in French are received in reply.
