French
“Le bonheur est parfois caché dans l’inconnu.” — Victor Hugo
In the French Department we aim to foster a love of language learning, developing our students’ confidence and focusing on communicating in a supportive, fun environment.
As one of the world’s main languages, spoken across five continents, French opens up many economic, cultural and career opportunities, and at LWC we aim to build a positive rapport between our students and the French-speaking world that will remain in adult life.
All students at LWC take French, Spanish or both up to GCSE and many of our 6th-Form students continue to study languages at university, often leading to exciting future opportunities abroad.
Our pupils in 1st Form can choose their initial language, and many opt to pick up the second language in the 2nd or 3rd Form. We have introduced an innovative approach to language learning in 1st and 2nd Form, where students study French through cultural topics such as the Tour de France and the French-speaking Caribbean.
Our aim is to bring the French-speaking world to the classroom with the emphasis on communication alongside an appreciation of ‘real-life’ French language and culture. In line with LWC’s A2RH approach we also aim to build our students’ academic resilience though exposure to authentic materials and at times more challenging concepts, which stretch our young learners in a supportive and enriching way.
We offer a trip to the Loire Valley in 1st and 2nd Form, a GCSE homestay trip to Montpellier and Sixth Form work experience in Normandy.
All students have the opportunity to attend smaller clinics for support or extension, and our French assistant offers our GCSE and A Level students the chance to practise their spoken French in small groups or 1-1 sessions.
Our 6th-Form languages prefects are actively involved in running film nights, supporting pupils in class and leading languages clubs at lunchtime, and all GCSE and A-Level classes from 3rd Form to U6 are introduced to French cinema in class.
We start the AQA French GCSE syllabus in 3rd Form and we follow the AQA syllabus at A- Level.