Our French Offer
Due to our students starting with French at 1st Grade or even at Kindergarten, they playfully develop their French spoken and written language skills.
DELF Prim
Our French programme follows the CEF (Common European Framework), preparing our students for the DELF Prim (A1.1, A1 and A2) as well as the DELF Junior Diploma (B1).
The following French language skills are taught at Kindergarten, lower and upper Primary:
- Kindergarten: Understanding and talking - learning through play.
- As of 1st Grade: Participating in discussions and reading.
- As of 3rd Grade: Writing - narrative, descriptive and formal/informal.
The above-mentioned French language skills are similar to what students achieve only at the end of the secondary level in a Swiss State School.
Due to our students starting with French at 1st Grade or even at Kindergarten, they playfully develop their French spoken and written language skills whilst equally developing enthusiasm and cultural knowledge of France, the French part of Switzerland and other French-speaking countries.
French projects include for example:
- In the 1st and 3rd Grade, a special French project week is offered in October: a trip to a Swiss bilingual canton, a French “pâtisserie” baking class, a trip to a museum to see an exhibition of a known French artist are just a few examples.
- A camp in either the French part of Switzerland or neighbouring France is an integral part of our curriculum for our 4th and 6th
- Our students also communicate with a class in the French-speaking part of Switzerland - be it by letter, postcard, email or Skype.
Differentiation is made within all French lessons for those children with French as one of their native languages. A French teacher and an assistant work together in all classes simultaneously, thus providing the opportunity to create smaller and more focused groups.
To fully benefit from the French offer in our Primary School and to complete the full multilingual curriculum, we encourage the children to attend our Wednesday afternoon French class.
Wednesday Afternoon French Classes
Our Wednesday afternoon French classes are split into three groups. The groups will be formed by the student’s language level i.e. one group will be composed of A1.1 students, the second group will be A1 and the third group will be A2 level. Approximately every ten weeks the children will rotate club during the school year.
Writing and Reading Club
The children will reinforce the contents worked on in class as well as the preparation for the DELF Prim or Junior exam.
Drama Club
The children will playfully incarnate characters (real or fiction), compose sketches, interpret texts with their voice, emotions, gestures and the magic ingredients of a theatre scene.
Cooking Club
We will give children the opportunity to learn about food from different cultures. Moreover, children will improve their sensory, motor and social skills. This club will give the opportunity to learn new French vocabulary as well as mathematical and safety skills.