AQA GCSE FRENCH / GERMAN Full Course September 2009 – June 2011

This is a 2 year full course GCSE. Our exam board is AQA. The specification is new this year and very different from the previous specification. (…in a good way we think!)

The content of the course is very similar to the previous specification:

Leisure (free time and the media, holidays)

Home and Environment (home and local area, environmental issues)

Lifestyle (health, relationships, choices)

Work and Education (school, college, future plans, current and future jobs)

…but the course is now modular. There are 4 parts:

Unit 1 Listening: 20% of total grade This will be assessed by a short exam in January next year. Students can retake this exam in May next year. Students will be entered at either Foundation Tier (30 minute exam) or Higher Tier (40 minute exam).

Unit 2 Reading: 20% of total grade This will be assessed by a short exam in January next year. Students can retake this exam in May next year. Students will be entered at either Foundation Tier (30 minute exam) or Higher Tier (50 minute exam).

Unit 3 Speaking: 30% of total grade This is assessed by Controlled Assessment. Over the 2 year course students do 3 assessments with their teacher. Teachers mark the speaking tests and AQA moderates teachers’ marking. The best 2 Speaking Assessments count towards the final GCSE grade.

Module 4 Writing: 30% of total grade This is assessed by Controlled Assessment. Over the 2 year course students write 3 texts under controlled conditions. The best 2 are submitted for assessment by AQA.

Assessment Schedule for GCSE Languages Year th -23 rd November 2009Writing Assessment 1 4 th -10 th March 2010Speaking Assessment 1 15 th -29 th March 2010Writing Assessment 2 30 th March-1 st April 2010Listening & Reading Practice Exams (Y10 Exams)

Year 11 22nd Spetember-3rd October 2010 Writing Assessment 3 December 2010 (Y11 Mocks) Listening & Reading Practice Exams January 2011 Listening & Reading (real!) GCSE Exams 23 rd February-6 th March 2010 Speaking Assessment 2 May 2011(dates to be confirmed) Speaking Assessment 3 June 2011 Listening & Reading Re-take Exams

How can you help?

(  Electronic copies of everything in Millthorpe School GCSE revision booklet (very useful indeed!)  GCSE past papers – speaking, reading and writing materials for the last 5 years (legacy specification).  General Conversation podcasts – downloadable audio files of General Conversation topics.  Transcripts of the General Conversation podcasts  Links to other useful Languages revision websites  Electronic copies of everything in Millthorpe School GCSE revision booklet (very useful indeed!)  GCSE past papers – speaking, reading and writing materials for the last 5 years (legacy specification).  General Conversation podcasts – downloadable audio files of General Conversation topics.  Transcripts of the General Conversation podcasts  Links to other useful Languages revision websites

millthorpe banana

Helpful websites for revision - French zut.languageskills.co.uk/index.htmlzut.languageskills.co.uk/index.html - Available for free before 9am and after 4pm. Lots of good exercises for revising vocabulary and grammar. - Loads of very effective grammar exercises, good vocabulary revision. - Lots of revision units specifically tailored towards the exam, separated into Foundation and Higher tiers. – Revision activities specifically tailored towards the exams. Better for Foundation than Higher. - topics, exam skills, example presentations. – Past papers and example exercises from exam papers. - videos, exercises, links to other websites. - Good exercises for practising accuracy in writing Only free for the first 7 days, so use it wisely! - fun (if slightly odd) games to help you remember the basics.

Helpful websites for revision - German gut.languageskills.co.uk/index.htmlgut.languageskills.co.uk/index.html - Available for free before 9am and after 4pm. Lots of good exercises for revising vocabulary and grammar. – Loads of very effective grammar exercises, good vocabulary revision. - Lots of revision units specifically tailored towards the exam, separated into Foundation and Higher tiers. – Revision activities specifically tailored towards the exams. Better for Foundation than Higher. - topics, exam skills, example presentations. - videos, exercises, links to other websites. - free before 9am and after 4pm fun (if slightly odd) games to help you remember the basics.

How can we help you? If you have any questions, phone us at school or write a note in your son’s/daughter’s planner asking us to phone you. Ms AndrleHead of Modern Languages Responsible for French Miss GraySecond in Department Responsible for German Miss RamsayFCSE German Ms QuevedoFCSE and GCSE Spanish Mrs FrauGCSE Italian