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What is our Departmental Intent?:
At Seaford Head College the French curriculum across Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 provides students with the opportunity to study a wide range of language, increasing their knowledge of vocabulary and set phrases while at the same time building their understanding of structures and how language works. We aim to develop confident communicators in listening, speaking, reading and writing underpinned by solid grammatical knowledge. In addition, we strive to equip students with language which is fit for a variety of purposes and ultimately leads them to be part of a global world where linguistic and intercultural skills enhance future careers and relationships with others. Students can express their opinions on a variety of topic areas relevant to their everyday lives. Skillful application occurs when students can articulate their ideas either verbally or written through authentic use of the language they have studied.
Fundamental to the aims of the French department at Seaford Head School is for students to develop cultural awareness thanks to the opportunity to study French which is a language spoken on all five continents. Awakening students’ curiosity and deepening their understanding of different customs, beliefs, history and literature is core to the French curriculum. Students are also able to develop the concept of being a global citizen by increasing their understanding of the cultures where the language is spoken. Learning a foreign language encourages students to consider their own identity, to appreciate and empathise with different ways of seeing the world.
Within a diverse curriculum of mixed-ability groups, we can stretch and challenge students of all abilities and backgrounds. Lessons are accessible for all groups of students, including SEN, PP and EAL and no student is held back from learning a language for social or economic reasons.
We look to broaden our students’ learning by offering a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities including trips to the Institut Francais or British Film Institute to take part in film study days or inter-school poetry slam competitions. Taking part in master classes at Trinity College, Cambridge or the Creative writing competition in French at Oxford University is an option for the most talented. Residential trips to France are actively encouraged; these opportunities helping to make language-learning real and impacting positively students’ motivation by experiencing authentic situations. We will be doing an immersion trip to France for years 8-10 in June 2023. This involves creating a pen pal exchange, visiting a school in France as well as taking part in a variety of cultural activities. We are also able to offer written exchanges between a school in Nancy, France and Seaford which are an additional important means of interacting with native speakers. This has taken place on a biannual basis. Interweaving authentic resources into the curriculum in general allows students to learn more about French/Francophone culture and this year we are having focused starters on specific elements of cultural capital to widen students’ knowledge of French/Francophone culture.
Finally, the French department aims to give students the possibility to be the ‘best they can be’ in French. Our aims are that while learning French, students are given a positive, inclusive, meaningful language learning experience which prepares them for the challenges of the wider world.
