French

As the 11th most common language in the world, it opens doors to new cultures, connections, and opportunities. Learning French isn’t just fascinating, it is a valuable life skill that enriches travel, enhances career prospects, and deepens students’ understanding of the world. Studying languages gives pupils a unique insight into different traditions and ways of life, making them more confident and globally aware communicators.

Key Stage 3 French at Sheffield Girls’ is taught in a lively and engaging way to help every student to enjoy learning the language. For pupils entering Year 7 without any prior language-learning, our activities and curriculum caters to all levels of experience and confidence.

We have a link with a school in Brittany and correspondence with French school children is an integral part of our studies. It enables our students to experience real conversation, enhancing their communication skills in a huge range of ways and helping them to experience the benefits and joy of learning a language, first hand.

GCSE French

We follow the Edexcel IGCSE curriculum, which is a linear course, finishing with final examinations. The topics are varied and we spend the entire course building structures little by little so that, by the end of Year 11, pupils are able to communicate spontaneously in French and achieve exceptional academic results. This means they are equipped to do their best in their examinations. GCSE French also equips them to spend time in France and prepares them thoroughly for A Level study.

Topics include:

• Holidays
• Free time, hobbies and sports
• Family and friends
• School, jobs and future plans
• Technology
• TV and film
• Healthy living

Students have regular skills lessons and often use chromebooks in lessons to access listening material and authentic resources on online platforms. Pupils also benefit from dedicated individual time with our language assistants to develop their speaking skills spontaneously.

Our MFL Department is an energetic team of enthusiastic linguists. We are delighted to consistently achieve amongst the highest GCSE results in the GDST network.

Co-curricular Activities

• GCSE students enjoy residential visits to France, often staying with host families and attending language classes alongside their cultural excursions.
• French Film Club is open to all Key Stage 3 pupils.
• Key Stage 4 French DVD lending library to help students further immerse themselves in the language.
• Our foreign language assistants run clinics to support girls at all stages of their learning.
• Sheffield Girls’ hosts an annual Sheffield City Translation Bee with schools from right across the city.
• Pupil Language Ambassadors lead activities throughout the year and run the Junior Language Club for Year 5 and Year 6 girls.
• Every September we provide a range of activities to celebrate Languages Week and the European Day of Languages.

Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française (DELF)   

Our Year 11 French students have the opportunity to study for an additional French DELF B1 qualification. Awarded by the French Ministry of Education, these are the only official French language proficiency diplomas and we have two qualified DELF examiners here at Sheffield Girls’.