Year 9 French

What students learn this year:

In Year 9 French, students learn how to talk and write about their personal world, their use of media and technology and their studes and future.. They further develop their knowledge of the present tense, near future tense, and perfect past tense with avoir and être.

Term overview:

Term / Half-term	Main topics / units	Key knowledge & skills
Autumn 1	Media and Technology	Online activities, sports, TV / films
Autumn 2	My Personal World	Making plans to go out, activities in the past, Francophone games
Spring 1	My Personal World	Describing family, friendships and routines
Spring 2	Role Models	Idols, role models and celebrations
Summer 1	Studying	School subjects, rules and routines
Summer 2	My Future	Primary school, using languages in the future

How learning and progress are checked

Teaching approach:

Lessons combine short teacher explanations with listening, reading, writing and speaking activities working individual, in pairs and in small groups. Students have consistent support in the form of their vocabulary booklet, which contains all French vocabulary required, as well as some grammar explanations. Short vocabulary tests are carried out every week and end of module tests focus on two skills each time, from listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Assessment in this year group:

Type of assessment	Approx. frequency / when	What it is used for (e.g. reports, targets)
Classwork / quizzes	Short retrieval quizzes most lessons	To check recall of key vocabulary and address misconceptions quickly
Vocabulary-learning homework	Once per week	To consolidate new vocabulary learnt every week
End-of-topic assessments	Once or twice per term	To judge understanding of each unit and inform progress data
End-of-year assessment	Summer term	To give an overall picture of progress across the year

Homework and Independent study

How often is homework set? Once per week: vocabulary learning

Typical length per task: Suggested 3 or 4 x 10 minutes practice spread across the week

Suggested independent study (websites, reading, apps, routines):

Students are encouraged to study vocabulary from their booklet several times per week, using various memorisation techniques, including creating their own flashcards and using flashcard websites such as Quizlet. BBC Bitesize also has a variety of exercises aimed at Key Stage 3 French.

How parents and carers can support:

Help your child create flashcards for vocabulary learning.
Test them on their flashcards in a fun, low-pressure way.
Encourage them to say things to you in French whenever they can, e.g. Bonjour, ça va?, merci, s’il te plaît, au revoir, à bientôt
Before an end of module test, help them test themselves using the flashcards they have created throughout the term.

Support, stretch and enrichment:

Support for students who need extra help:

We use writing frames, vocabulary lists and carefully structured tasks to support students who find languages challenging. Teachers liaise with the SEND team to adapt resources where needed.

Stretch & challenge:

A challenge activity is offered for every task to extend the practice of vocabulary and grammatical constructs.

Clubs / trips / extra opportunities:

One lunch time per week there is a languages club in F24, open to all students. This year, we are also offering a 2-night stay in France with cultural activities and opportunities to speak French in a real context.